Content Index

Microsoft IT Showcase

Welcome to an insider's view of the Microsoft enterprise IT environment.
Here you'll find a complete list of content on Microsoft IT's best
practices and lessons learned as we plan for, develop, deploy, and
manage Microsoft products in our own global enterprise.

On This Page

5 IT Strategies for App Creation and DeliveryPublished: 06/26/2014Read how Microsoft IT is embracing
the Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud, and other megatrends to create
a platform that streamlines the creation and delivery of applications
that enhance user experiences; promote anytime, anywhere productivity;
and reflect a more agile approach to delivery.Article

A - C

Achieving a unified view of platform healthPublished: 03/30/2016
Learn how Microsoft manages platform health today and how the enterprise plans to transition to Operations Management Suite to manage both on-premises and cloud IT assets, through a single point of control.Article

Adopting Azure Resource Manager for efficient
cloud infrastructure managementPublished: 09/09/2016With Microsoft Azure at the core of our cloud-first,
mobile-first culture, Microsoft IT recognized that a transition
to Azure Resource Manager from the Azure Service Management
platform was key to efficiently deploying and managing the
company’s volume of Azure resources in the cloud. Azure Resource
Manager provides the framework to manage the next generation of
business apps and infrastructure through resource groups,
role-based access control, and other policies that promote
efficiency.
Technical Case Study

Adopting modern engineering processes and tools at Microsoft IT Published: 05/24/2016 Updated: 05/31/2016
Microsoft IT is adopting agile development methods as part of the move to modern engineering. Learn how we're using Azure and Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, and about our processes for agile development and automated testing.
Technical Case Study

Adopting Windows as a service at Microsoft Published: 12/23/2016
Windows 10 introduced a new way to streamline operating system updates—Windows as a service. Microsoft IT uses in-place upgrades and agile methodology to promote Windows adoption. We’ve streamlined application compatibility testing, established pilot deployments with early adopters, tracked progress through visual workflows, and made data-driven decisions using Upgrade Analytics. As a result, we were able to quickly deploy Windows 10, Windows 10 November update, and Windows 10 Anniversary Update across the company.
Technical Case Study

Advancing cybersecurity strategy at MicrosoftPublished: 11/30/2015
The rise in sophisticated cyberattacks and corresponding impact drives the need for advanced solutions to help companies discover, respond to, and recover from attacks. More than ever, rigorous execution of vulnerability remediation, configuration, and change management is the most effective preventative measure for an organization. As the technology industry continues to embrace a mobile-first, cloud-first era, Microsoft must continue to advance risk management and security controls, and balance unparalleled security threats with business requirements.Article

Align Enterprise Social Tools with Business NeedsPublished: 04/06/2015In this article, Microsoft
IT looks at social tools such as Yammer as an additional tool in
the enterprise suite. At Microsoft, social tools improve and optimize
business processes while increasing transparency and agility.Article

Aligning the IT Organization to Deliver Modern ApplicationsPublished: 07/24/2014The recent creation of
app stores containing small, focused apps, available across a range
of consumer devices, has created challenges for Information Technology
(IT) departments in many organizations. In order to address these
challenges, Microsoft IT created a centralized app certification
process and single app portfolio, both managed from a single point.
This provided a mechanism for Microsoft to provide apps developed
in an agile software development environment, to distribute these
apps to users across a range of devices, and to still maintain control
in terms of functionality, security, and regulatory and corporate
compliance.
Business Case Study

Analyzing Azure inventory data to optimize resources
and reduce riskPublished: 12/23/2016To better manage and secure our Microsoft Azure resources,
Microsoft IT created an Azure asset inventory that provides a
consolidated view of all the Azure subscriptions and resources
at Microsoft. Key data in the inventory helps us analyze Azure
resources and configurations to optimize the environment and
ensure compliance. Having the ability to analyze the Azure
resource inventory for resource and configuration data has
helped reduce costs, improve security, reduce risk, and manage
resource ownership.
Technical Case Study

Applying data science and machine learning to enhance
the user experiencePublished: 06/23/2017At Microsoft IT, providing great user experiences for
employees is more than just product improvement—it’s about
enhancing end-to-end experiences that span products and
services. Anisha Gautam, Senior Program Manager in Microsoft IT,
discusses broad experiences like finding, meeting,
collaborating, supporting, and communicating. She talks about
how we’re applying data science—using machine learning and
algorithms—to analyze user feedback and data from products and
services.
Video

Architecting your network for successful Azure adoptionPublished: 10/07/2015 Updated: 05/12/2016Organizations that plan network architecture before moving to the public cloud in Microsoft Azure can address issues of capacity, connectivity, and security and focus on improving traffic management before migration.
Technical Case Study

Ask, find, and act—harnessing the power of Cortana and Power BIPublished: 05/24/2016 Updated: 05/25/2016
Microsoft integrated Cortana and Power BI natural language functionality in a powerful and easy-to-use way. Engineers and executives in the Windows Shell team now have easy access to unique business intelligence insights. Team members ask for, and then quickly receive, specifically tailored views of Windows 10 consumption, problem, and business data. You can do it too—just give Cortana access to your Power BI datasets. Then use Q&A in Power BI to ask your questions.
Article

Auditing the cloudPublished: 03/03/2016Are you—and your internal auditors—concerned that
cloud-based services and applications could impact critical
compliance activities and service certifications? As Microsoft
moves to Microsoft Azure, IT and auditors work closely together,
on an ongoing basis, to validate that Azure provides a fully
auditable computing environment. Learn how Microsoft uses
independently validated Azure services and features to simplify, Fazure
automate, and operationalize corporate compliance activities.Article

Automating licensing for Office 365 in a hybrid
environmentPublished: 03/24/2016To keep our corporate users productive, Microsoft IT must
assign and update Office 365 licenses for a constantly changing
user base. Find out how the team built an automation service to
do this and how it works in a hybrid environment.
Technical Case Study

Automation and update channels help deploy Microsoft
Office 365 ProPlusPublished: 09/09/2016
Steve Reay, Senior Program Manager, talks about how
Microsoft IT approached the upgrade to Office 365 ProPlus 2016
across the company and recommends key considerations to keep in
mind when planning a deployment. He addresses using System
Center Configuration Manager to automate the upgrade process and
discusses how update channels make it easy to deploy ongoing
Office updates.
TechNet Radio Session

Azure Data Lake connects supply chain data for
advanced analyticsPublished: 12/13/2017Our supply chain engineering team at Microsoft used to
store and process data in disparate systems, which made data
sharing and forecasting harder. To aggregate data and connect
our processes, we built a centralized, big data architecture on
Azure Data Lake. Now, we’ve improved data quality and visibility
into the end-to-end supply chain, and we can use advanced
analytics, predictive analytics, and machine learning for deep
insights and effective, data-driven decision-making across
teams.
Technical Case Study

Azure HDInsight improves performance of big data tax
system and cuts costsPublished: 03/29/2017Last year, to handle increasing volumes of complex tax data with quick response, Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) built a big data solution for the Finance group using Microsoft Azure HDInsight, Azure Data Factory, and Azure SQL Database. This year, we made changes for more performance gains—along with cost savings from optimizing our HDInsight clusters. We modified the system architecture and—for faster data loading—used Apache Spark in HDInsight. As a result, the Finance team has quicker insights and more efficient processes.
Article

Azure Logic Apps streamline marketing data
integrationPublished: 12/12/2016To support marketing efforts, Microsoft IT manages data
orchestration for more than 120 data sources, many of which are
hosted in Azure. Integrating data from disparate sources into
custom data analysis solutions can be costly and inefficient.
But with Azure Logic Apps, we have created data access solutions
built from modular, reusable, configurable tasks—making it
easier to deploy and manage data movement solutions.
Technical Case Study

Azure resource inventory helps manage operational
efficiency and compliancePublished: 12/23//2016For Microsoft IT, conventional processes for managing
Microsoft Azure resources weren’t providing good visibility into
self-provisioned cloud usage. To overcome this challenge, we
created and maintain an inventory of the Azure subscriptions and
resources across the enterprise. It includes detailed resource
and usage records for resource management and auditing. With the
inventory, we developed a system for Azure usage management that
helps us realize efficiency and value from our Azure resources.
Technical Case Study

Be more productive with Skype for BusinessPublished: 08/09/2016Skype for Business 2016 combines instant messaging, voice,
and video capabilities to use at your desktop computer. To help
you get the most from Skype for Business, this guide shows you
how to manage contacts, use audio devices, make enterprise voice
calls, and manage meetings. You’ll learn how to select an audio
device, change audio settings, forward and place calls on hold,
listen to voice mail, join a meeting, share content in a
meeting, and more.
Productivity Guide

Be productive anywhere with Microsoft Office 365Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016You are busy and need to be productive whether you are at your office, on the road, or at home. By installing Microsoft Office 365 on your Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android device, you can keep up with your email and calendar, and work on documents wherever you are. With your Office 365 account, your documents, preferences, and other settings follow you across the PCs, tablets, smartphones, and even web browsers that you use. So you can pick up right where you left off, anytime and anywhere.
Productivity Guide

Become a Pro in SharePoint OnlinePublished: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
Discover some key SharePoint Online ribbon functions to help you be more productive: add a list, a new view, or an alert to a file to receive notification updates, and sync your SPO document library to your Outlook. This readiness guide brings tips and tricks from Microsoft IT that improve digital productivity and help create an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
Readiness Guide

Beyond CRM: Extending Dynamics 365 to manage
contractsPublished: 06/15/2017When managing advertising agreements became complex and
error-prone, Microsoft IT turned to Microsoft Dynamics 365 to
create a contract life cycle solution. The system streamlined
contract creation, approval, and management—and moved Dynamics
365 beyond customer relationship management. It integrates with
external systems like SAP and DocuSign to automate, digitize,
and simplify contracts and transactions. The system set the
standard for hybrid cloud configurations at Microsoft.
Technical Case Study

Bring your research project to life with Microsoft
Office 365Published: 07/05/2016Learn how Office 365 can help you tackle your next research
project, from start to finish. Whether you work on a Windows,
Mac, iOS, or Android device, you can start with OneNote to
record ideas and notes, then prepare to collaborate in a shared
workspace with Office 365 Groups. Track your project schedule
with Microsoft Planner and document your process and work in
Word. Finally, create a PowerPoint presentation and share videos
that you create with the Office Mix add-in for PowerPoint.
Productivity User Guide

Bringing digital transformation to the supply chain
with Azure IoT SuitePublished: 10/16/2017At Microsoft, we’re using Azure IoT Suite and Power BI to
transform our hardware manufacturing and supply chain in three
phases. The first brings together data from disparate sources in
common reports that provide people with the right data about
manufacturing trends. The second phase uses data for predictive
insights about our operations. Going forward, we’ll integrate
machine learning into our processes, for even more efficiency
and cost savings.
Article

Building an agile and trusted SAP environment on Microsoft AzurePublished: 04/12/2018With features for managing HR, finance, and other services, SAP—our enterprise resource planning software—is integral to business performance and processes at Microsoft. We migrated our SAP environment to Azure—the preferred platform for SAP—and found that we cut costs and gained scalability. Integrating SAP on Azure presents opportunities for digital transformation: optimizing the size of our environment to meet demand and empowering employees to achieve more with increased process efficiency.
Technical Case Study

Building cloud apps using the Secure DevOps Kit for
AzurePublished: 06/21/2017Microsoft is embracing the cloud and we’re adopting agile methodology—DevOps—for cloud app development. This transition has challenged traditional security methods. To build security into our agile development process and provide a baseline for security in cloud apps, we created the Secure DevOps Kit for Azure. It offers tools and best practices for building security into every stage of cloud app development.
Business Case Study

Building an IT partnership through agile developmentPublished: 09/30/2016Microsoft IT partnered with Microsoft Real Estate and
Facilities to develop a cloud-first, mobile-first, data
warehouse and reporting solution. We created a data model to
effectively represent their business needs and used agile
methods to implement the solution. The result is a business
intelligence app that provides a complete view of the business,
how it is trending, and where improvements can be made to meet
future business needs.
Business Case Study

Building a Modern Role Guide App to Manage Training and
CompliancePublished: 08/25/2014Role Guide
is an immersive modern app and seamless learning experience for
Microsoft employees that helps HR target the right training courses
to the right audience.
Video

Building a one-stop shop for business data needs with Power BIPublished: 04/19/2016 Updated: 05/02/2016
Managing hundreds of millions of dollars in invoices, purchase orders, and patents a year—and supporting the businesses that create them—is a difficult challenge. Microsoft IT and the Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) team use Office, Power BI, and SQL Server for effective data management to preserve data quality in documents from a wide range of data sources. Learn how Microsoft IT and CELA created a scalable solution for accessing, reporting, and managing their data from anywhere on any device. Article

Building an online training session in Office Mix for
PowerPointPublished: 07/05/2016Learn how to build an interactive training session with
Office Mix, a free add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint in Office
365. Office Mix makes it easy to turn your PowerPoint
presentations into interactive online lessons that you can share
with students and colleagues in OneNote, on the web, or in your
learning management system. You can use Office Mix on Windows,
Mac, iOS, or Android devices.
Productivity User Guide

Building Reusable APIs in a Mobile First, Cloud First
Business EnvironmentPublished: 02/23/2015Microsoft IT uses hybrid cloud architecture to leverage the
benefits of cloud computing and to improve line of business application
development by eliminating monolithic applications that require
high levels of maintenance and developer involvement. The Middle
Tier Services team at Microsoft IT created a comprehensive set of
guidelines and implementation methods that is designed to reduce
complexity, increase consistency in delivery, and decrease the total
cost of ownership for line of business applications.Technical
Case Study

Capture and Share Whiteboard Photos with your Surface
with Windows RTPublished: 02/08/2013The
portability and long battery life of your Surface with Windows RT
device make it easy to carry with you to meetings. Using Microsoft
OneNote, Microsoft Outlook 2013 and your tablet's built-in camera,
you can easily capture and share pictures of the whiteboard diagrams
from your meetings.
Work Smart Guide

Certifying Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book as standard devices at Microsoft Published: 12/23/2016
To provide employees with a choice of work computers, Microsoft IT maintains a list of standard devices that meet our requirements for performance, user authentication, secure connectivity, and information security. Built to support Windows 10, standard configurations of Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 meet our device criteria for deployment. For ease of device management, we use standard tools and utilities that help us manage, configure, and protect Surface devices within the enterprise.
Technical Case Study

Changing our approach to information security at
MicrosoftPublished: 12/09/2016With collaboration on the rise, Microsoft IT is rethinking
information security. Social collaboration, ubiquitous
connectivity, and new ways of collecting data and storing
content encourage innovation and content sharing—but they also
pose potential security risks for organizations. We help protect
content through technologies like Microsoft Office Delve, Azure
Information Protection, and Microsoft Teams—securing content
wherever it exists, and in ways that go beyond traditional IT
security.
Article

Client security: shifting paradigms to prepare for a cloud-only futurePublished: 02/07/2018At Microsoft, we’re on our way to becoming a cloud-only organization. We envision security in cloud computing where cloud identities and services will streamline how we support our mobile workforce and keep work and customer data secure. As we look toward a future where all devices will be connected to the intelligent cloud, we’re planning initiatives that will help us provide data protection in a device-agnostic, cloud-only environment.
Article

Cloud at Microsoft (IT Expert roundtable May 2017)Published: 05/26/2017IT Showcase brought together IT Experts from our Cloud at
Microsoft course to answer your questions about how Microsoft IT
designs, develops, implements, and monitors cloud solutions at
Microsoft. In this session, they discuss infrastructure as code,
Azure security, strategies for migrating applications, cloud
adoption challenges, Azure architecture, data management in
Azure, and much more.
SME Roundtable

Cloud at Microsoft (SME roundtable October 2016)Published: 11/22/2016IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our
Cloud at Microsoft course to answer questions about how
Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, and monitors cloud
solutions at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss cloud
security, choosing between software as a service and platform as
a service, Azure, the Internet of Things, and trends in cloud
adoption.
SME Roundtable

The cloud security mindset Published: 04/04/2016Cloud success balances robust security and rapid innovation. A new mindset is required—one that challenges traditional roles and responsibilities. Microsoft IT reveals its own Azure security evolution and decentralized approach to functions such as configuration management and incident management. At the same time, Microsoft IT maintains strong security hygiene, effective oversight and governance, and supports its DevOps partners with risk management tools and automation technologies.
Article

Collaborating by Using SharePoint Server 2010Published: 11/30/2010 Updated: 05/14/2014Microsoft
SharePoint Server 2010 helps people share files and collaborate.
It's designed to work effectively with other technologies, including
the Microsoft Office applications. Use this guide to learn about
the features and capabilities of SharePoint Server 2010.
Work Smart Guide

Collaborative events highlight digital transformation
at MicrosoftPublished: 04/28/2017Digital transformation isn’t only about how technology
changes, it’s also about how corporate culture—our people—adapt
to that change. At Microsoft, we’re changing company meetings
from static presentations into dynamic conversations, and we’re
empowering attendees by giving them a voice. Using Skype Meeting
Broadcast, Yammer, and Microsoft Pulse, we engage our employees
around the world during corporate events by encouraging
interaction, collecting real-time feedback, and promoting
collaboration.
Business Case Study

Completing your projects using mini-tasks with
deadlinesPublished: 07/13/2017Learn a simple project management technique to help you
stay focused on your work and avoid distractions: break down
projects into mini-tasks and assign a deadline to each. Work
through your task list—meeting each deadline—to complete the
whole project.
Productivity Quick Tips

Configuration as code: Automating Windows Server
2016 configuration with PowerShell and DSCPublished: 09/23/2016Microsoft IT manages thousands of servers across the
company, and the process of reconfiguring servers was tedious
and potentially inconsistent. Now, using automated configuration
with PowerShell and DSC, we can define configuration logic and
make changes programmatically in Windows Server. We have a more
flexible, consistent environment, with fewer complex server
configuration tasks.Article

Configuring Power BI mobile apps with Microsoft IntunePublished 04/06/2016
Microsoft Intune enables organizations to manage devices and applications. The Power BI mobile applications for Windows 10 Mobile, iOS and Android integrate with Intune to allow you to manage the application on your devices while controlling security. Through configuration policies, you can control items like requiring an access PIN, how data is handled by the application and even encrypting application data when the app is not in use.Work Smart Guide

Connecting to work on your Windows 10 device with
Microsoft IntunePublished: 08/08/2016Planning to use your personal Windows 10 device for work?
Enrolling in mobile device management through Microsoft Intune
gives you secure access to corporate resources and allows IT
admins to manage corporate data and apps on your device. Your
personal data—pictures, files, personal apps, and personal
email—is separate and untouched, never accessible by your
company. This guide walks you through the Intune enrollment
process if you’re working remotely or doing work on a personal
device.
Productivity Guide

Consolidating customer feedback into data visualizations promotes action Published 06/15/2016
Stefan Kummert explains why it was nearly impossible for Microsoft IT to analyze internal customer satisfaction data about its applications and services to create actionable next steps. He shares how User Experience Services created a solution built on Power BI to capture real-time feedback along with data from User Voice, Yammer, and IoT devices. A scalable backend solution provides business intelligence and enables data visualization, leading to informed decisions about application solutions.TechNet Radio

Consumerization of ITPublished: 02/18/2013
People want to use their personal devices to work, often
outside of core business hours, but also want the flexibility to
utilize the same technologies and applications at work that they
use on their personal time. This blending of consumer and enterprise
technologies is the Consumerization of IT, and it has led many organizations
to rethink their business models to promote agility and flexibility
for their employees.Quick Reference Guide

Consumerization of IT at Microsoft: Adapting to ChangePublished: 03/13/2014Microsoft is an environment
of change, with the latest software and hardware advances constantly
pushing the boundaries of corporate IT's charter. To effectively
manage both users'expectations and the mandates of information
security, Microsoft IT needed to develop a programmatic approach
to technology adoption—one that would foster innovation without
increasing risks by introducing uncontrolled technologies. This
is particularly true when considering the impacts of trends in Bring
Your Own Device (BYOD) scenarios.Business Case
Study

Cortana for Windows 10Published: 06/29/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
Cortana is your personal digital assistant in Windows 10. She gets to know you and helps you get things done, letting you interact with her in a way that's easy and natural. She can search the web, find things on your PC, show you the local news and weather, and provide reminders based on time or location. Just tell Cortana what you want, and she'll be there to help you out.
Readiness Guide

Create secure financial forecasts with Cortana
Intelligence SuitePublished: 03/29/2017Financial analysts at Microsoft create forecasts to help
inform critical business decisions. Microsoft IT wanted to move
financial forecasting processes off local devices and into a
cloud solution with better predictive analytics and more
security. We worked with the Microsoft finance group and data
sciences organizations to design and build a secure automated
forecasting solution using Cortana Intelligence Suite. The
solution provides accurate and automated forecasts as frequently
as needed by the business.
Technical Case Study

Creating the business intelligence ecosystem at MicrosoftPublished: 05/13/2016
Kirkland Barrett, Director of Business Programs, discusses how Microsoft IT promotes awareness of Power BI to increase adoption of its self-service business intelligence tools. He shares the benefits we've seen and some "gotchas"we faced along the way.Webinar

Creating consistent and engaging corporate apps with
PowerAppsPublished: 08/25/2017At Microsoft, employees choose mobile apps from a diverse
library to help complete work activities, such as reporting
vacation time, finding an available meeting room, or commending
a colleague. While apps make it easy to complete tasks, they
don’t always have a consistent UI design. Developers and
designers use PowerApps to create a consistent user interface
for some common activities at Microsoft and unify the experience
for employees through a company dashboard.
Article

Creating a culture of modern engineering within Microsoft IT Published: 05/24/2016 Updated: 05/31/2016
Moving to agile development methods and modern engineering practices requires a cultural shift across the organization. Learn how Microsoft IT adopted agile principles, created a new mindset of cooperation, and adjusted our leadership approach.
Technical Case Study

Creating a dashboard to analyze and visualize your
data in Excel 2016Published: 07/05/2016Learn how to plan and create a dashboard with Microsoft
Excel 2016 in Office 365. A dashboard can make it easier to
collect, analyze, and share your data; giving you valuable
insights into your business. You can use queries to connect to
external data, choose from a variety of charts to display data,
drill down into details with a PivotChart, and apply conditional
formatting to visually highlight trends.
Productivity Guide

Creating dynamic presentations with PowerPoint 2016Published: 09/24/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016With PowerPoint 2016 you can create, share, and co-author dynamic presentations on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices like never before. With new features—including modern chart types, screen recordings, and the Microsoft Office Mix add-in with enhanced screen recording functionality—PowerPoint 2016 allows you to bring your presentations, slideshows, and training sessions to a whole new level.
Productivity Guide

Creating a personalized experience in the modern workplace with Windows 10 Published: 10/4/2016
The modern workplace features open and flexible workspaces, conference rooms, and multi-use spaces. Microsoft IT is promoting productivity and collaboration in our facilities through smart touchdown spaces and Windows 10 Continuum-enabled workspaces, which provide a monitor and keyboard for Windows 10 devices. In some locations, we have deployed Internet of Things devices to provide even more opportunities for employees to personalize their work experience and collaborate with colleagues.
Technical Case Study

Creating an integrated plug-and-play supply chain
with serverless computingPublished: 11/01/2017The device manufacturing supply chain at Microsoft involves
many partners around the world. Our supply chain team found that
its system lacked scalability and end-to-end visibility, and
integrating new partners was slow and expensive. We transformed
the supply chain system with serverless computing and
microservices in Azure, and created an integrated platform that
provides high availability, visibility, scalability, easy
onboarding for partners, and cost-effective operations.
Technical Case Study

Creating an immigration workflow management solution
with Dynamics 365Published: 01/17/2018To manage immigration and travel issues for visa-dependent
employees, Microsoft created a streamlined solution based on
configurable Dynamics 365 features. The solution manages complex
immigration workflows, smartly creates and reuses forms and
documents, and integrates with 12 partner systems. It helps the
immigration team optimize its processes and lets our employees
spend more time on their important strategic work.
Technical Case Study

Creating a Portable Windows 10 Environment with Windows
To GoPublished: 07/21/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015You can use
Windows To Go, a feature in Windows 10 Enterprise (and previous
versions), to provision a USB drive with a complete and managed
Windows 10 system image. You can insert the USB drive (known as
a Windows To Go workspace) into a managed or unmanaged Windows 10
host computer to boot and run a managed Windows 10 system. You don't
have to install any software on the host computer to use the Windows
To Go workspace.
Readiness Guide

Creating a Portable Windows 8 Environment with Windows
To GoPublished: 12/28/2012 Updated: 05/16/2014
Windows To Go is a new feature in the Windows 8 Enterprise operating
system that you can use to provision a USB drive with a complete,
managed Windows 8 system image. You can insert the USB drive (known
as a Windows To Go workspace) into any Windows 7—based or Windows
8—based host computer to boot and run a managed Windows 8 system
without installing any software on the host computer. This guide
shows you how to create a Windows To Go workspace.
Work Smart Guide

Creating a sales productivity solution with PowerAppsPublished: 12/12/2017Our highly mobile sellers need quick access to sales
assets, data, and tools. We used PowerApps to develop a mobile
app that gives sellers access to sales documents, training
materials, and customer relationship management (CRM) data that
gives them real-time visibility into sales opportunities. A
collection of software services and app components, PowerApps
allowed us to easily develop and merge apps into one experience
for sellers on the go.
Technical Case Study

Creating security controls for IoT devices at MicrosoftPublished: 02/07/2018The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of cloud-connected devices that collect and exchange data. At Microsoft, we’re addressing the unique challenges of securely managing IoT devices by performing comprehensive risk assessments and creating mitigation strategies. The number of IoT solutions is going to continue to grow, so it’s imperative that we develop security solutions along with it.
Business Case Study

Creating a Self Service Model for BI@MicrosoftPublished: 08/29/2014
Hear how IT created their
data governance, federation and self-service BI model at Microsoft.
With Kirkland Barrett and Brad Sutton.
TechNet Radio

Creating a user-centric mobile hub with Xamarin and
Azure App ServicePublished: 03/31/2017To help Microsoft employees easily access campus services
and amenities, Microsoft IT developed a mobile app for iOS,
Android, and Windows 10 mobile devices. We built the Azure
platform as a service (PaaS) solution using Microsoft Visual
Studio Team Services and Xamarin, which enabled code sharing
across the three platforms. For efficient distribution to
employees, we used HockeyApp to easily deploy updates and track
telemetry and crash reports.
Technical Case Study

Cutting costs and improving service with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Published: 10/04/2016
One Finance, the group responsible for global account processing at Microsoft, migrated our customer support solution from on-premises to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. We process more than 500,000 support tickets annually, and the database had grown to 2 TB. Before making the move, we archived data, optimized the existing solution to use more out-of-the-box features, and updated code. Since going live, the new solution has cut support costs in half, and the new Service Level Agreement feature has improved customer service.Article

Cutting costs in the cloud with Skype for Business
and Office 365Published: July 14, 2017Migrating enterprise unified communications to cloud-based
Skype for Business services at Microsoft proved to be an
ambitious undertaking for Microsoft IT, but we reaped the
rewards. As business groups adopted the services, they
significantly reduced operating expenses, capital expenses,
legacy third-party carrier fees, and travel. Our journey to the
cloud has also led to increased productivity—our people can
communicate and collaborate from any location on any device.
Business Case Study

Data insights help enhance the user experience at
MicrosoftPublished: 06/21/2017To help keep Microsoft employees productive and efficient,
Microsoft IT looks at broad user experiences that go beyond
individual products and services—experiences such as finding
information and support, and meeting, collaborating, and
communicating with colleagues. To drive improvements to the
Microsoft employee experience, we get insights from analyzing
data and user feedback across products and services.
Article

Datacenter switches amp up network capacity for Gears
of War teamPublished: 09/19/2016The Coalition, the game studio at Microsoft responsible for
Gears of War 4, lacked the network infrastructure to efficiently
distribute 120 GB builds during development of the game for Xbox
One and Windows 10. Microsoft IT installed high-capacity network
switches that dramatically increased bandwidth and performance,
enabling the studio to meet its October 2016 launch deadline.
Technical Case Study

Delivering an Extensible CRM Solution Using Agile DevelopmentPublished: 01/04/2013Microsoft Information
Technology (MSIT) worked with the Microsoft Sales, Marketing and
Services Group (SMSG) to rapidly develop and deliver Small and Medium
Business for Dynamics CRM (SMB CRM), a new management application
for sales leads. The application, which is used internally at Microsoft,
collects and manages incoming leads from SMB accounts, and routes
the leads to telesales call centers.Technical Case Study

Deploying and updating Microsoft Office 365 ProPlusPublished: 06/28/2016
For an easy deployment, Microsoft used System Center Configuration Manager to automate the upgrade to Office 365 ProPlus 2016. We also used update channels in Office 365 to specify the cadence for Office updates to be delivered to users.Technical White Paper

Deploying Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring
2.0 at MicrosoftUpdated: 06/27/2013Microsoft
IT wanted to implement Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring
(MBAM) 2.0 to reduce operational costs and take advantage of the
increased functionality for provisioning, monitoring, reporting,
and integration tasks. Microsoft IT planned and implemented MBAM
2.0 as an upgrade to their existing MBAM 1.0 infrastructure while
maintaining service availability and BitLocker functionality. The
MBAM 2.0 environment provides a more manageable and user-friendly
BitLocker experience for both end users and Microsoft IT.Technical
Case Study

Deploying production workloads with Azure Resource
ManagerPublished: 12/16/2016Host Lyle Dodge chats with Pete Apple, Principal
Service Engineer, and Todd Robertson, Senior Program Manager,
about how Microsoft IT is adopting Azure Resource Manager (ARM)
for resource management. They discuss how ARM enables new levels
of self-service and infrastructure as code through streamlined
resource provisioning. Learn how we are using shared
repositories to distribute templates in Azure.
Webinar

Deploying Skype for Business in the cloudPublished: 07/13/2017With the hybrid cloud architecture of Office 365 Enterprise
E5 as our foundation, Microsoft IT migrated our global workforce
to Skype for Business in two stages. First, we gave some people
limited cloud-based conferencing, and then we eventually moved
whole user groups to complete cloud-based unified
communications. With careful planning, we helped teams maintain
productivity during deployment and upgraded our network
infrastructure to support capacity requirements.
Technical White Paper

Deploying Skype Room Systems and Surface Hub devices in meeting rooms Published: 10/13/2016
Microsoft IT is working with Skype for Business to make it easier for our employees to join, see, hear, and participate in online meetings by upgrading conferencing technology in our meeting rooms worldwide. Technology pilot programs deployed new products—like Microsoft Surface Hub and the next generation of Skype Room Systems—in a variety of meeting spaces. To help ensure a smooth transition across the company, we created capital expense plans, support and operations plans, and change-management strategies.Article

Deploying Windows 10 at Microsoft as an in-place
upgradePublished: 12/14/2015As the "First and Best" customer of the Windows Devices
Group, Microsoft IT recently deployed Windows 10 to 96,000
distributed users at Microsoft. The deployment included both
remote users and users on the corporate network and was
completed in nine weeks. To improve on past operating system
deployments, Microsoft IT deployed Windows 10 as an in-place
upgrade that maintained productivity and offered a consistent
user experience.
Technical Case Study

Designing a software-defined strategy for securing the Microsoft network Published: 4/13/2018
Security solutions for the modern workplace at Microsoft must meet the challenges of a constantly evolving threat landscape. We’re moving away from traditional perimeter-based network security and implementing software-defined security barriers and network segmentation. These solutions are scalable and flexible, and consistently provide programmatic security through controls on clients, apps, and devices—helping ensure that devices are healthy and that threats are detected and contained swiftly.
Technical White Paper

DevOps practices for cloud securityPublished: 07/07/2016
DevOps is the future of IT. As Microsoft IT continues to adopt Azure, we also mature our DevOps organization. We’re driving an innovative and fault-tolerant development culture of self-service and automation that maintains strong security hygiene. We directly embed readiness criteria and operational standards into our engineering processes. Our configuration and operational practices help to support an iterative and rapid development culture, where we can "fail fast" and respond effectively.
Article

Digital Crimes Unit uses Microsoft data analytics stack to catch
cybercriminalsPublished: 03/25/2015 Updated: 04/20/2016The Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit consistently leverages the
latest in analytics technology, relying on some of the brightest
employees, some of the smartest scientists, and certainly some of
the company's best partners in law enforcement, to disrupt and dismantle
devious cybercriminals. Learn how Microsoft used some of our best
technology to uncover the behavior of one cybercriminal ring, and
how the Digital Crimes Unit worked in partnership with Microsoft
IT and federal law enforcement, to shut down one of the nation's
most prolific cybercrime operations.
Article

Digital transformation at Microsoft: Achieving more
with Microsoft Office 365Published: 12/16/2016In our Finance organization and across Microsoft, Office
365 Enterprise E5 accelerates our own digital
transformation—employees feel empowered to achieve more with
business intelligence, collaboration, and productivity. We
gather data-driven insights with Power BI and collaborate in
the cloud with Skype for Business. To help provide security and
ensure compliance, we’re using Advanced Security Management,
Advanced Threat Protection, and eDiscovery technologies. Our
experience moves us forward along a journey of innovation and
growth.
Video

Driving cloud adoption in an enterprise IT organizationPublished: 09/22/2015
Microsoft IT is driving the company's vision of "Microsoft runs in the cloud." To advance that vision, Microsoft IT created processes and teams to migrate over 2100 internal applications from on-premises servers to the cloud. The biggest challenge was not technology but a cultural change within the organization. Using a cohesive strategy and process, Microsoft IT has changed its culture and integrated cloud adoption into the business.Business Case Study

Driving digital transformation with modern network
infrastructurePublished: 07/31/2017To meet the needs of next-generation apps and services at
Microsoft, our enterprise network infrastructure must be
scalable, resilient, and always on. At Microsoft IT, we’re
creating an internet-first, wireless-first network that supports
both the cloud and the datacenter. Through modern technologies
and automation, we make sure our people and partners can always
connect to an agile, dependable network.
Article

Driving effective data governance for improved quality and analyticsPublished: 04/13/2018
At Microsoft, managing data to reveal deep insights is an increasingly important strategic priority. Our data governance practices help ensure that data is optimized for analytics across organizational and functional boundaries. Data stewards can enforce data quality standards across our information assets and improve data integrity and discoverability. With high-quality data, we can use machine learning, AI, and advanced analytics for deeper insights.Article

Driving financial insights and agility with BI at
MicrosoftPublished: 02/02/2016
Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics help empower business
leaders and decision makers throughout Microsoft. Those who need
BI must be able to access it quickly—and in a way that they can
both understand and trust the underlying data they use to
support their decisions. Microsoft IT has undertaken a
multi-year journey to transform how the company works with BI.
As part of this initiative, Microsoft IT is developing a
solution for Finance that supports mature data reporting, while
simultaneously adding agile, self-service capabilities that open
up BI analysis to thousands of business users across the
company.
Article

Driving Skype for Business adoption through service
improvementsPublished: 04/10/2017
Dwight Jones, Senior IT Service Manager, discusses how
Microsoft IT is making the transition to Skype for
Business—unified communications in the cloud. He shares how we
reconciled Microsoft Lync and other technologies to become Skype
for Business, and how we’re listening to our users to drive
service improvements, increase call quality, and optimize the
user experience.
Webinar

Dynamics 365 automates complex transactions and
business processesPublished: 06/22/2017To optimize complex transactions and contracts worldwide, Microsoft designed a new system based on Dynamics 365. It automates business processes and accommodates customized workflow management for our business units. Moving Microsoft contracts and transactions through a structured process helps us coordinate people and cases efficiently.
Technical Case Study

E - F

Empowering your organization to embrace a data
culture with Power BIPublished: 05/04/2017Today, enterprises generate data at an exponential rate.
Using this business intelligence—to learn from it and make
insightful decisions with it—is part of what it means to embrace
a data culture. At Microsoft, we’re helping employees embrace
data by rolling out Power BI, introducing BI tools,
communicating the benefits it can provide, and offering training
and resources to help promote adoption.
Business Case Study

Enabling mobile productivity for iOS, OS X, and
Android devices at MicrosoftPublished: 07/07/2016As the use of personal devices in the workplace grows,
Microsoft IT is challenged to apply corporate security policies
in a data environment of diverse devices that contain a mix of
business and personal data. With Intune for Mac, we can manage
and support OS X devices. Microsoft Intune and Azure Active
Directory support mobile device management for iOS and Android,
and give users secure access to corporate resources—anytime,
anywhere.
Article

Enabling remote access with Windows Hello for
Business in Windows 10Published: 07/06/2016During the internal deployment of Windows 10 November
update, Microsoft IT implemented a new credential, Windows
Hello, for strong authentication. We were able to easily
incorporate the new credential for use within our existing VPN
infrastructure, creating a streamlined sign-in experience for
remote access among Windows 10 users.Technical Case Study

Enabling the Internet of Things in the enterprisePublished:
03/28/2016 Updated: 03/31/2016Learn how Microsoft is experimenting with cutting-edge Internet of Things (IoT) technology by piloting the use of IoT hardware, data, and even industrial design to enable new productivity experiences for its employees.Article

Engaging users with a Microsoft Azure-based universal
appPublished: 07/21/2016Microsoft IT developed an Azure-based app to encourage user
and product feedback from members of the Microsoft Elite early
adopter program. The new Elite app gave members a central point
of interaction with the program across multiple device
platforms. The broad acceptance of this app gave us a more
comprehensive view into the early adoption process and helped to
improve our product development management.
Article

Engineering the move to cloud-based servicesPublished: 08/03/2016David Lef explains the major factors that affect migration
of IT-supported services and environments to cloud-based
services, focusing on network-related practicalities and
processes.
Article

Enhancing remote access in Windows 10 with an
automatic VPN profilePublished: 03/31/2017Microsoft IT provides secure, remote access for Microsoft
employees—helping them stay productive and easily connect to
work when needed. With Windows 10 Anniversary Update, we
implemented a new VPN connection profile that includes the
Always On feature. Employees can use it to automatically connect
to the network. This profile streamlines the remote access
experience with a seamless connection and enforces strong
authentication methods for network security.
Technical Case Study

Enhancing security and reliability with Exchange
Online ProtectionPublished: 03/17/2017Shad Morris, IT Service Engineer for the Discovery and
Collaboration team, shares best practices for increasing email
security using Exchange Online Protection. He discusses how
Microsoft IT uses both proactive configuration and reactive
policies to block threats at the connection, content, and user
levels, and he answers questions from participants.
Webinar

Enhancing threat detection at Microsoft using
Microsoft Cloud App SecurityPublished: 11/16/2016
In our cloud-first, mobile-first environment, the use of cloud apps is on the rise. To help protect corporate data, Microsoft IT uses Microsoft Cloud App Security to discover and identify cloud applications in use on our network, assessing security risks for any app. With the Cloud App Security Portal, we monitor suspicious behavior patterns and unusual activity and detect threats. Cloud App Security provides protection for our network and greater visibility into our environment.Technical Case Study

Enroll your mobile device in Microsoft Intune for corporate accessPublished: 05/31/2016
Microsoft Intune makes it convenient to bring your own device to work! You will see how simple it is to enroll personal mobile devices into Intune for secure access to corporate resources and applications. Microsoft IT uses Intune to help ensure that personal devices, such as iOS devices, adhere to corporate security policies without accessing your personal files.
Video

Enterprise social behavioral stylesPublished:
03/13/2015Gain insight into how Microsoft uses and benefits
from enterprise social through the eyes of social posters and social
lurkers at Microsoft IT.Article

Exchange Server 2010 Design and Architecture at MicrosoftPublished: 07/09/2010By replacing Exchange Server
2007 servers with servers running Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft
IT created new opportunities to drive down costs and system complexities
while at the same time increasing security and deploying new features
not available in previous versions of Exchange Server.
Technical White Paper

Exploring top features of SQL Server 2016 that enable
BI solutions and improve data insightsPublished: 12/09/2016As an early adopter of SQL Server 2016, Microsoft IT
identified four features and enhancements that have the
potential to increase productivity for people who design,
develop, and maintain critical data storage systems. In this
webinar, Anubhuti Varshney, Senior Program Manager, talks about
how Microsoft IT evaluated these features and created business
intelligence solutions that support advanced analytics within
databases for deeper data insights.
Webinar

Exploring Windows 10Published: 06/29/2015 Updated: 04/19/2017
Take a few minutes to get up to speed with Windows 10 if it’s new to you! Designed to be intuitive, its new features are easy to learn and will likely be familiar to you. Cortana, your personal digital assistant, helps you quickly find what you need. The new Edge browser makes it easy to read, discover, and share online content. See how the Windows 10 Start menu organizes your apps and settings. Find out how to use a virtual desktop to organize different types of work or follow up on Windows notifications.Productivity Guide

Follow the Leader in Enterprise SocialPublished: 08/01/2014Learn how Microsoft IT develops
the social muscle in employees to adopt social behaviors, participate
in social activities, and join communities.Article

A foundation for modern collaboration: Microsoft 365 bolsters teamworkPublished: 05/16/2018No longer confined to office buildings, the modern workspace allows people to meet, collaborate, and stay connected across organizational boundaries. Microsoft 365—Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security—is a platform that fosters teamwork and collaboration at Microsoft. Services such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Yammer provide one place for conversations, meetings, files, and data, and they empower our people to meet business goals with efficiency and effectiveness. Technical Case Study

From systems to people: rethinking service managementPublished: 09/12/2017Moving to the cloud requires more than just technology—it
demands a new approach to managing services. For the Office 365
service management team at Microsoft, the employee experience is
our top priority. We’re focusing on end-to-end services and
aligning IT skills with strategic roles. We deliver frequent
Office 365 updates in shortened release cycles with new
governance models to help protect corporate assets while
promoting collaboration. It’s paying off—we’re seeing employees
adopt the services and enhance productivity.
Technical Case Study

G - H

Get Started: Office 365Published: 05/21/2014
Y The Microsoft Office 365 suite of cloud-based services and productivity tools helps you work and collaborate wherever you are, online or offline.Quick Reference
Guide

Get Started: Office 365Published: 05/16/2014Read this guide to see how to use your Office 365 account to
its fullest potential by checking email through Microsoft Outlook
Web App, sharing files, and using Office 365 on mobile devices.
Work Smart Guide

Get Started: Microsoft Excel 2010Published:
03/30/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014Use this guide to learn about
some of the features that are available in Microsoft Excel 2010
spreadsheet software.
Work Smart Guide

Get Started: Microsoft Office 2010 User InterfacePublished: 11/30/2011 Updated: 05/14/2014 You can use
this guide to learn how to use the features of the ribbon and other
elements of the Microsoft Office 2010 user interface (UI).
Work Smart Guide

Get Started: Microsoft Outlook 2010Published:
11/30/2011 Updated: 05/14/2014You can use the Microsoft
Outlook 2010 messaging and collaboration client to manage your email
messages. This guide describes some of the features in Outlook 2010.
Work Smart Guide

Get Started: Microsoft Word 2010Published:
03/30/2012 Updated 05/15/2014Use this guide to learn about
some of the features that are available in Microsoft Word 2010.
Work Smart Guide

Getting more done with Windows 10 MobilePublished: 12/24/2015 Updated: 11/30/2016
Windows 10 Mobile gives you a consistent experience across
Windows 10 devices because your settings and data follow you
whether you are using a PC or mobile device. Every Windows 10
Mobile device comes with Microsoft Office Mobile, Microsoft
Edge, and Cortana built in. Use your Windows 10 Mobile device
like a PC with Continuum for phones—and still make and receive
calls. Install Skype for Business and OneDrive for Business to
connect and collaborate with your coworkers, partners, and
customers.
Productivity Guide

Getting the most out of Microsoft Edge Published: 07/21/2015 Updated: 11/08/2017
With Microsoft Edge in Windows 10, you get a browser built for fast, safe, and productive web experiences. You can search directly from the address bar or take advantage of integration with Cortana to make your search easier. The Hub saves your favorites, a reading list, your browsing history, and downloads. Make a Web Note on a page to save for later or share with others, and enable roaming so that your favorites and settings follow you to any PC or Windows 10 Mobile device.
Productivity Guide

Getting started with Excel 2016Published: 11/01/2016 Updated: 01/26/2017
With new chart types and improvements to PivotTables and business intelligence (BI), Microsoft Excel 2016 makes it easier to work with large amounts of data and give it even more meaning. Unlock insights, and tell the story in your data by organizing it in spreadsheets (workbooks). View your data in context, and use the analytic capabilities of Microsoft Excel to make more informed decisions. And it is easier than ever to save and work with your workbooks in the cloud, and to collaborate with others who need to see and edit your data. With Microsoft Office 365, you can get Excel on your PC, iPad, Android tablet, iPhone, or Android or Microsoft Windows phone, letting you stay productive whether you are at work, at home, or on the go.Productivity Guide

Getting started with Microsoft Outlook on the webPublished:
03/30/2012 Updated 12/09/0215Microsoft Outlook Web App (OWA) is now Microsoft Outlook on the web. Just sign in to your Office 365 account to use it! Take a quick tour of the new app so you can start using all the familiar features right away—access your email, calendar, and contacts from any device with an Internet connection.
Productivity Guide

Getting started with Microsoft Teams – for developersPublished: 09/05/2017Microsoft Teams, a chat-based workspace in Office 365,
integrates with apps and services that groups use to work
together—including development teams. Hold daily stand-up
meetings in Teams with the Wiki tab, discuss code in the
Conversations tab with markdown syntax, and integrate tools such
as Visual Studio Team Services. Build and connect a bot to your
workspace, or use Office 365 Connectors to connect your group to
relevant services and tools.
Productivity Guide

Getting started with MyAnalyticsPublished: 01/30/2017
Microsoft MyAnalytics gives you insights about how you
spend your time at work and who you spend it with. To improve
your time management skills, use your MyAnalytics dashboard to
set goals for time spent in meetings and on email. With the
detailed information in your dashboard, you can target ways to
gain time so that you can focus on what matters most. The data
MyAnalytics provides can also help you stay connected to
important people in your network.Productivity Guide

Getting started with Power BIPublished 06/13/2016 Updated: 06/15/2016
Microsoft Power BI helps you stay up to date with the information that matters to you. Learn how to create interactive dashboards and build reports to analyze your business in detail. Connect multiple datasets in Power BI to bring all of your relevant data together in one place. Gain insights, make decisions, and monitor your business wherever you are.Work Smart Guide

Getting started with the Power BI for Android app Published 04/06/2016
The Android app for Microsoft Power BI brings Power BI to your pocket, with up-to-date, touch-enabled mobile access to your business information. View and interact with your company dashboards from anywhere.Work Smart Guide

Getting started with the Power BI for iOS appPublished 04/06/2016
The iPhone app for Microsoft Power BI for iOS is part of the mobile BI experience for Power BI and Reporting Services. With live, touch-enabled mobile access to your important business information on premises and in the cloud, you can view and interact with your company dashboards easily, from anywhere. Explore the data in dashboards, and share them with your colleagues in email or text messages.Work Smart Guide

Getting started with the Power BI mobile app for Windows 10Published 04/06/2016
The Windows 10 mobile app for Microsoft Power BI brings Power BI to your tablet or phone, with up-to-date, touch-enabled mobile access to your business information. View and interact with your company dashboards from anywhere —right on your Windows Start screen.Work Smart Guide

Getting started with Skype Meeting BroadcastPublished: 11/24/2015
Skype Meeting Broadcast is a new broadcast solution from Skype for Business, designed to scale to thousands of participants. It delivers a high quality video stream to any device running any operating system, with no need for plugins or downloads. Participants can join from anywhere using any device – an Internet connection is all they need. Skype Meeting Broadcast is ideal for internal meetings and streaming events to external customers. This guide provides detailed instructions on how to get started using Skype Meeting Broadcast.​Productivity Guide

Getting Started with Skype Meeting BroadcastPublished: 12/22/2015Skype Meeting Broadcast is a new broadcast solution from
Skype for Business, designed to scale to thousands of
participants. It delivers a high quality video stream to any
device running any operating system, with no need for plugins or
downloads. Participants can join from anywhere using any device
- an Internet connection and link to the meeting is all that's
needed. Skype Meeting Broadcast is ideal for internal meetings
and streaming events to external customers. This training deck
provides detailed instructions on how to schedule and manage a
Skype Meeting Broadcast, plus how to publish a recording and
create insightful reports. It may be used to help deliver
in-class or online readiness training and can be downloaded and
adapted for the intended audience.
Productivity deck

Getting started with Windows InkPublished: 04/14/2017With Windows Ink, you can extend the natural experience of
pen and paper to your Windows 10 device. Use sketchpad, Sticky
Notes, and screen sketch in your Windows Ink workspace to jot
down notes, sketch an idea, or doodle for fun with your digital
pen. Windows Ink integrates with other apps, so draw online in a
creator app or mark up an Office document with edits or notes.
Handwriting is quick, and ink technologies in Windows make your
notes come to life for increased productivity.
Productivity Guide

Getting started with Word 2016Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
Microsoft Word 2016 is a modern version of the classic desktop application, built for maximum productivity. Quickly produce professional documents using rich authoring features. Share, present, and work together on projects with built-in collaboration tools. Whether you work on a Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android device, you can access your documents in the cloud whenever and wherever you need them.Productivity Guide

Getting to know Windows 10Published: 09/06/2017Even if Windows 10 is new to you, it will still feel
familiar! Get started quickly using key Windows 10 features with
a few tips and tricks included in this guide. Learn about
searching with Cortana, browsing with Microsoft Edge, and
personalizing Windows to suit your preferences. Set up your
account and use apps like Mail, Calendar, and Microsoft Office
365. Windows 10 helps you stay secure, get organized, and be
productive.
Productivity deck

Getting to know Windows 10—for employeesPublished: 11/22/2016 Updated: 06/30/2017Quickly get started using Windows 10 features with the tips and tricks included in this guide. Find out how Windows 10 protects your identity and data with advanced security features. Learn about personalizing Windows to suit your preferences. Write and draw with Windows Ink and add 3D effects with Paint 3D. Collaborate with Microsoft Office 365 and OneDrive for Business. Windows 10 helps you stay secure, get organized, work productively, and be creative.
Productivity Deck

Getting your team started with Microsoft TeamsPublished: 02/07/2017 Updated 03/27/2017Quickly learn how to set up Microsoft Teams for your group.
A chat-based workspace in Microsoft Office 365, this
collaboration tool brings your team and project content together
within a dedicated hub. Team owners set up the workspace and
manage permissions for the group. Owners can add content and
connect tools to the workspace—such as a SharePoint document
library, OneNote notebook, or Power BI dashboard.
Productivity QRG

Global Marketing Operations at Microsoft uses BI to better
understand its customersPublished: 06/18/2015In the past, Microsoft sales professionals had to search through
data in 10 or more programs to learn about their customers—which
didn't leave them much time to interact with those customers. See
how this has changed, thanks to an application called Customer Insights,
developed by Microsoft Global Marketing Operations (GMO) in partnership
with Microsoft IT.
Article

A global Microsoft team runs an 18-hour virtual rally
using Skype and Yammer Published: 07/25/2017In 2017, the End User Services Engineering team tried a new type
of team meeting to better serve 380 employees spanning 45
countries and 11 time zones. Using Skype Meeting Broadcast,
Skype for Business, and Yammer, we created a global virtual
rally that ran continuously for 18 hours, allowing attendees to
join at an appropriate time for them, connect with each other,
hear from leadership, ask questions, volunteer together, and
strengthen our sense of community as effectively as any
in-person meeting.
Technical Case Study

Go Paperless by Using OneNote 2013Published:
06/20/2013 Updated: 05/16/2014The Microsoft OneNote 2013
note-taking program can help support corporate initiatives to reduce
employee dependence on paper and printed documents. This guide gives
you a quick primer on OneNote 2013 so you can join the paperless
revolution.
Work Smart Guide

Go paperless with OneNote 2016Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
OneNote 2016 makes your paper notebooks, index cards, and sticky notes obsolete, taming the “paper jungle” and making note-taking a paperless activity. It is the perfect solution for creating, organizing, and searching online notes. And if you store your OneNote notebooks in the cloud, you can easily share them with your colleagues or collaborate with your team. Whether you work on a Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android device, you can sign in to Microsoft Office 365 and access your online notebooks from anywhere, at any time.Productivity Guide

Harnessing the power of agile developmentPublished: 03/22/2016After a recent acquisition, Microsoft IT needed a
unified way to create, manage, and release hardware product
data. Using an agile development methodology, we were able to
quickly build and release a new consolidated product data
management system.
Business Case Study

How cloud-based PBX and PSTN save Microsoft more
than $120,000 per day with Skype for BusinessPublished: 07/14/2017Migrating enterprise unified communications to cloud-based Skype for Business services at Microsoft proved to be an ambitious undertaking, but we reaped the rewards. As business groups adopted the services, they significantly reduced operating expenses, capital expenses, legacy third-party carrier fees, and travel. Our journey to the cloud has also led to increased productivity—our people can communicate and collaborate from any location on any device.
Business Case Study

How IT and Finance Partner to Create Impact at MicrosoftPublished: 10/20/2014Like many organizations,
separate groups at Microsoft of IT and Finance must have a strong
partnership to deliver results. Wilson Garone, Corporate VP and
CFO of Microsoft Worldwide Sales Marketing Services Group Finance,
and Donna Cheesebrough, VP of Corporate Functions IT discuss how
embracing a mobile first, cloud first world helps deliver business
impact that increases productivity, enables efficiencies and of
course, helps deliver on our financial commitments with their strong
partnership.
Video

How Microsoft IT adapted its network for the cloudPublished: 01/05/2016Microsoft IT is migrating its application portfolio to the
public cloud and has taken steps to improve network performance
and reliability. In this webinar, Principal Network Architect,
David Lef, talks about the network architecture Microsoft IT is
using to embrace cloud computing.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT Deployed System Center 2012 Configuration ManagerPublished: 04/13/2012 The
deployment of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager by Microsoft
IT has provided exciting opportunities to increase system efficiency
and realize cost savings through server consolidation while at the
same time improving reliability with automatic client health monitoring
and empowering end users with greater control over their software
installations. Discover the lessons learned from the deployment
experience and the benefits that Microsoft IT obtained from having
deployed Configuration Manager to more than 280,000 systems across
the globe.
Technical Case Study

How Microsoft IT empowers Corporate, External, and
Legal Affairs with an Azure data platformPublished: 03/03/2016Jaydeep Baliram Sawant, Senior Software Engineering
Manager, and Krishna Sagar, Program Manager, walk through how
Microsoft IT uses Microsoft Azure data services and analytics
tools to ensure that Corporate, External and Legal Affairs has
an effective and scalable data platform.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT Implements Server Patch ManagementPublished: 04/30/2012MSIT uses Microsoft System Center
Configuration Manager to comprehensively assess and update servers,
both physical and virtual, in the enterprise. Assessing and maintaining
the integrity of software in a networked environment through a well-defined
configuration management program is a key first step toward successful
information security. Technical
White Paper

How Microsoft IT Integrated Lync and HelpdeskPublished: 02/07/2014Understand
how Microsoft integrated Lync and IT Helpdesk to reduce employees'
time spent on service tickets, giving time back and enabling real-time
end-user support.Business Case Study

How Microsoft IT is securing high-value corporate assetsPublished: 07/20/2015 Updated: 07/31/2015Security breaches
and incidents have escalated in frequency and sophistication; as
a result, security is moving to the top of corporate agendas. Breaches
such as at Target, Home Depot, and Sony have shown how a single
incident can hurt a company, its shareholders, partners, and customers.
There is a profound sense of urgency in the IT industry to protect
critical corporate assets—beyond just the network. Learn how Microsoft
IT is taking action and making an investment to protect its high-value
assets.
Technical Case Study

How Microsoft IT manages and governs the internal
SharePoint environmentPublished: 11/16/2015SharePoint Online hosts over 200,000 team sites, personal
sites, and portals internally at Microsoft—which can be
challenging to manage. In this webinar, David Johnson, Senior IT
Program Manager, and Carrie Doring, Senior Business Program
Manager, walk through how Microsoft IT uses a combination of
custom solutions, organizational policy, and user communications
to ensure that Microsoft content is protected and relevant to
users.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT Manages Authentication and Authorization
in a Hybrid Cloud WorldPublished: 03/27/2015
In this webinar, Laura Hunter, Principal Enterprise IT Architect,
discusses how Microsoft IT strikes a balance among enterprise authentication
requirements, security, privacy, and compliance while creating a
great user experience for those who want to stay connected and productive
anywhere on any device.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT manages its move to the cloud Published: 05/24/2016
Learn how Microsoft IT has transitioned from classic, on-premises IT hosting to a hybrid cloud management organization. Senior Program Manager Lyle Dodge discusses the evolution of Microsoft IT from on-premises hosting to a cloud services broker.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT manages resource efficiency in Azure and on-premises Published: 04/04/2016When IT professionals transition infrastructure to a hybrid cloud environment, they face the challenge of efficiently allocating server resources. How is Microsoft IT approaching this challenge and controlling costs? In this webinar, Senior Service Operations Manager, Bryan de Boer, describes a strategic approach to analyzing and identifying underused resources and implementing Microsoft IT solutions.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT reduced third-party software spending using Power BI and System Center Published: 11/08/2016
Patrick Graff, Senior IT Service Manager with the Software Licensing Service, shares how Microsoft IT cut costs by using data analytics and System Center to understand, analyze, and report on third-party software within Microsoft. Learn how Microsoft IT developed the infrastructure, processes, and reporting to effectively manage, control, and use third-party software licenses within the company.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT supports internal users with on-site
and desk-side supportPublished: 11/12/2015In this webinar, Alex Agudelo, Senior IT Manager, provides
a high-level overview of how Microsoft IT supports internal
users via our on-site support solution, Tech Link, and through
desk-side support. Learn how IT enables and empowers its
workforce to be productive and agile with Microsoft devices and
services, specifically around deployment options and end-user
experience. Also, learn about our support service roadmap and
our direction for the future.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT uses Microsoft SharePoint and Office
365 Published: 05/08/2015In this webinar,
David Johnson, a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft IT, discusses
how Microsoft uses Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365
to support information sharing through portals, team sites, OneDrive
for Business, and discovery solutions. David also discusses the
Microsoft internal hybrid footprint, moving to the cloud, enhancing
security, and creating a great user experience. There will be opportunities
for questions throughout the presentation.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT uses OneNote to collaborate more effectivelyPublished: 07/13/2015A technical evangelist
explains how he uses OneNote for collaboration with his teammates.
OneNote provides a central location where the entire team can reference
important information, track meetings and action items, and conduct
reporting.
Video

How Microsoft IT uses System Center Configuration Manager for client patch managementPublished: 03/31/2016In this webinar, Ashok Gopala Krishnan, Service Manager, explains how we use Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager for patch management of PCs, including the patching process, the user experience, and best practices.
Webinar

How Microsoft IT Uses System Center 2012 R2 Configuration
Manager in the datacenterPublished: 03/19/2015
In this webinar, Jeremy Young, Senior Service Engineer on the Manageability
Team, talks about the processes and tools that Microsoft IT uses
to manage configuration of data center servers by using System Center
Configuration Manager and patch management disciplines.
Webinar

How Microsoft planned and deployed Skype for
Business to the Office 365 Enterprise E5 cloudPublished: 07/13/2017With the hybrid cloud architecture of Office 365 Enterprise E5 as our foundation, Microsoft migrated its global workforce to Skype for Business in two stages. First, we gave some people limited cloud-based conferencing, and then we eventually moved whole user groups to complete cloud-based unified communications. With careful planning, we helped teams maintain productivity during deployment and upgraded our network infrastructure to support capacity requirements.
Technical White Paper

How to use Skype Meeting BroadcastPublished: 11/24/2015 Updated: 01/26/2017
Skype Meeting Broadcast, a broadcast solution from Skype for Business, delivers a high-quality video stream and scales to thousands of participants. It’s ideal for online corporate meetings and streaming events to external customers. Participants can join the meeting from anywhere, with any device—an Internet connection is all they need. Use this quick reference guide to get started using Skype Meeting Broadcast.Quick Reference Guide

How to customize a Skype Meeting BroadcastPublished: 11/27/2015
This video is the second in a series of four 'How to' videos providing step-by-step guidance on the new video streaming solution Skype Meeting Broadcast. This video focuses on how to customize your broadcast to include built-in tools such as Yammer and Bing Pulse to keep your audience engaged and collaborating.Video

How to manage a Skype Meeting BroadcastPublished: 11/27/2015
This video is the third in a series of four 'How to' videos providing step-by-step guidance on the new video streaming solution Skype Meeting Broadcast. This video focuses on how to start and successfully manage your broadcast for maximum impact.Video

How to publish a Skype Meeting Broadcast recording and run reportsPublished: 11/27/2015
This video is final in a series of four 'How to' videos providing step-by-step guidance on the new video streaming solution Skype Meeting Broadcast. This video focuses on post-event activities such as how to download a broadcast to publish online, and pull insightful metrics for reporting to help evaluate and improve future events.Video

How Windows Information Protection in Windows 10
Creators Update helps youPublished: 07/11/2017Windows Information Protection in Windows 10 helps protect
corporate information from being shared in public locations,
such as email or social media. It provides data security for
your company documents, and helps keep your company information
within the bounds of your corporate network. Learn how it
distinguishes between personal and work documents, and how you
can, if necessary, change a file’s protection.
Productivity Guide

Implementing single sign-on for Microsoft PartnersPublished: 04/04/2016Microsoft Azure Active Directory business-to-business (B2B) collaboration brings a new set of capabilities that make it easy for the Microsoft Operations team to enable secure single sign-on for partners accessing Microsoft extranet applications.
Business Case Study

Implementing strong user authentication with Windows Hello for BusinessPublished: 06/28/2016 Updated: 11/28/2016
Microsoft implemented Windows Hello for Business, a new credential in Windows 10, to help increase security when accessing corporate resources. In Windows 10, this feature offers a streamlined user sign-in experience—it replaces passwords with strong two-factor authentication by combining an enrolled device with a PIN or biometric user input for sign in. Windows Hello was easy to implement within our existing identity infrastructure and is compatible for use within our remote access solution.
Technical Case Study

Implementing Windows Hello for Business at MicrosoftPublished: 12/02/2016Windows Hello for Business replaces passwords with strong
two-factor authentication by combining an enrolled device with a
PIN or biometric user input. Dimitris Papitsis, Service Engineer
for Microsoft IT, and Mike Stephens, Senior Program Manager, OS
Security, share lessons learned when Microsoft IT deployed
Windows Hello for Business on 100,000 Windows 10 devices over
existing infrastructure, including Intune, System Center
Configuration Manager, Public Key Infrastructure, and Azure
Active Directory.
Webinar

Improving the commuter experience with Microsoft
AzurePublished: 12/12/2016To consolidate information about commuting, corporate
shuttle services, and transportation options for staff,
Microsoft IT partnered with Microsoft Real Estate and Facilities
to create Transportation Hub, a web app hosted in Microsoft
Azure. Drawing on data from regional transportation providers,
the app helps employees plan their commute and schedule
transportation between campuses. It also provides insight into
commuter behavior, allowing us to improve services and helping
to reduce single-occupancy trips.
Article

Improving the customer experience and app performance with cloud-based tools Published: 04/25/2016
Microsoft IT has undergone a customer-focused transformation of the development process. Using out-of-the-box Microsoft Azure features, we moved partner applications to the cloud for a better user experience and increased developer productivity.Business Case Study

Improving network security using big data and machine
learningPublished: 08/19/2015Microsoft
IT is improving network security using big data and machine learning
to detect usage patterns that might otherwise escape notice. They
are using these tools to address two particularly significant security
problems in large organizations: the challenging landscape created
by the sheer volume of machines on the network (exacerbated by the
"bring your own device" workplace culture), and the ability to overshare
sensitive information with collaboration software.
Article

Improving reliability with Windows Analytics Device
HealthPublished: 09/22/2017To gain insights into the health and performance of more
than 300,000 Windows 10 devices, Microsoft began using Device
Heath, a new service in Windows Analytics. Available through the
Microsoft Operations Management Suite, Device Health analyzes
telemetry and provides details about device and driver crashes.
This data helps us monitor our environment and quickly resolve
issues.
Technical Case Study

Improving service quality in Skype for Business Published: 06/24/2016
When Microsoft IT deployed Skype for Business 2015 to support our highly mobile global user base, our goal was to provide the best user experience in the industry. We learned valuable lessons about hardware requirements, managing our complex network, accommodating diverse and remote clients, and running a unified communications platform in a hybrid cloud environment. We also helped develop a Call Quality Dashboard to help other organizations optimize the user experience.Technical White Paper

Improving workforce management and technical
readiness at MicrosoftPublished: 12/12/2017One Profile, an internal tool, helps people at Microsoft
advance their careers and connect our best technical consultants
with customers. Employees use it to evaluate their technical
skills and track training, while planners use it to match
consultants or engineers with customer projects based on
expertise. Built on Azure PaaS technologies like SQL Database
elastic pools, LogicApps, AppInsights, and Azure Data Factory,
it easily scales to accommodate multiple tenants, and it
provides high availability and reliability.
Article

Improving your focus with a task timerPublished: 07/13/2017To help work through tasks that require focused
concentration, use a simple time management technique—set a
timer while you work steadily on a single task, and then take a
break.
Productivity Quick Tips

Increasing security and privacy at Microsoft retail
storesPublished: 07/06/2016The Microsoft IT Retail Information Security and Privacy
team protects over 100 Microsoft retail stores worldwide. During
the five years that the team has been in existence, our
understanding of how to provide retail security has evolved,
which is reflected in the way we assess and address risks, set
security goals, and perform other aspects of our jobs. Security
goals include protecting, detecting, and responding to threats,
and supporting the staff in ways that help make the stores more
successful.
Technical Case Study

Insights in Upgrade Readiness accelerate Windows 10
upgradesPublished: 09/24/2017With a faster release cadence for Windows 10 upgrades, it’s
important that we quickly identify potential deployment blockers
and issues. Microsoft uses Windows Analytics Upgrade Readiness
to gain a better understanding of the Microsoft environment and
insights about our upgrade readiness. Upgrade Readiness provides
computer, application, and device driver inventory—along with
guided workflows we can use from pilot to deployment and tools
to help us make data-driven decisions about our application
portfolio.
Technical Case Study

Insights in Windows Upgrade Analytics accelerate
Windows 10 upgradesPublished: 12/20/2016With a faster release cadence for Windows 10 upgrades, it’s
important that we quickly identify potential deployment blockers
and issues. Microsoft IT implemented Windows Upgrade Analytics
to help us gain a better understanding of the Microsoft
environment and insights about our upgrade readiness. Upgrade
Analytics provides computer, application, and device driver
inventory—along with guided workflows we can use from pilot to
deployment, and tools to help us make data-driven decisions
about our application portfolio.
Technical Case Study

Installing System Center Configuration Manager 1602 using in-console updates Published: 0/28/2016 Updated: 07/08/2016
Microsoft IT installed the latest update to System Center Configuration Manager (version 1602) using a new in-console service. The in-console update service automates many tasks, such as checking that prerequisites are met before an update, and helps ensure that we are running the latest version. It delivers updates as they are available, with no service packs or cumulative update versions for us to download and deploy separately. Updates are now much easier to manage.Technical Case Study

Integrating security into the mobile app development
life cyclePublished: 07/07/2017
To address mobile app security and privacy during all phases of application development, Microsoft integrated the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle with the mobile app publishing platform we use for internally developed, line-of-business apps. We introduced automation and an end-to-end process that accommodates an increasingly agile mobile app development lifecycle—and helps ensure that all mobile apps we distribute throughout the enterprise undergo a security review and sign-off before they’re released.
Technical Case Study

Internet of Things: Lighting up modern workspacesPublished: 10/08/2015 Updated 11/09/2015
The Internet of Things presents tremendous opportunities for enterprises. These include helping employee productivity, creating new experiences, and learning more about the environment to optimize resources. Microsoft IT is lighting up a Real Estate & Facilities IoT pilot that utilizes low cost sensors, data analytics, and the cloud to improve open floor plan productivity —setting the stage for a future journey into IoT.Video

Introducing the Windows Azure Pack connector: two clouds, one portal Published: 05/31/2016 Updated: 06/04/2016
Microsoft IT has created a more seamless way to manage hybrid clouds. Now available for download, the Windows Azure Pack connector lets administrators and tenants use one portal to manage infrastructure as a service (IaaS) virtual machines in both private clouds and public Azure subscriptions. Article

IT Expert Roundtable: Cloud at Microsoft (November
2017)Published: 12/26/2017Cloud experts from Microsoft discuss modernizing
applications, cultural changes that lead to digital
transformation, migrating on-premises data centers to the cloud,
security in the cloud, shadow IT, planning a move to the cloud,
application development accountability, software engineering
fundamentals, geo-redundancy, and more. They share candid
insights and best practices about how we design, manage, and
support cloud solutions at Microsoft.
SME Roundtable

IT Expert Roundtable: How Microsoft secures elevated access with tools and privileged credentialsPublished: 05/22/2018Microsoft has been working to establish secure, isolated environments, credential management services and policies, and secure admin workstations to help protect mission-critical systems and services—including those used to manage cloud services, like Azure. Listen in as our experts answer questions about the strategies we use to help secure critical corporate assets and increase protection against emerging pass-the-hash attacks, credential theft, and credential reuse scenarios.
SME Roundtable

IT Expert Roundtable: SharePoint at Microsoft
(November 2017)Published: 12/14/2017SharePoint experts from Microsoft discuss topics
ranging from setting up sites—communication sites, hub sites,
and site design templates—to regional performance issues,
security issues, multi-geo capabilities, and search. You’ll
learn about content and apps for sites, PowerApps, moving to the
cloud, and more. They share candid insights and best practices
about how we manage SharePoint at Microsoft.
SME Roundtable

IT Expert Roundtable: Skype for Business at Microsoft
(October 2017)Published: 11/30/2017Skype for Business experts from Microsoft discuss client
version control, problem management and incident resolution,
collaboration with Microsoft Teams, tools for monitoring service
availability and quality, network infrastructure issues and call
quality, spoofed calls, business continuity and disaster
recovery—and more. They share candid insights and best practices
about how we manage and support Skype for Business at Microsoft.
SME Roundtable

IT Expert Roundtable: Using Azure Data Lake for advanced analyticsPublished: 03/02/2018IT experts talk about how Microsoft built a centralized, big data architecture on Azure Data Lake to connect supply chain data and processes. Bringing data together helped eliminate the tendency to work and make decisions in silos—our teams now use advanced analytics and machine learning for deeper data-based insights and innovation. Listen in as we answer questions from the audience about designing and building the solution, our pilot project, performance issues, and the benefits of Azure Data Lake.
SME Roundtable

IT Expert Roundtable: Using Naïve Bayes and Machine Learning Server to improve data qualityPublished: 04/24/2018Our experts discuss how we used Machine Learning Server and the Naïve Bayes classifier algorithm to improve data quality in our sales and marketing leads. They share how we designed and built a solution to find and filter out fake company names with machine learning, and they answer questions about integrating international data, developing training data, and choosing the right algorithm and technology.
SME Roundtable

Joining your Windows 10 computer to a domainPublished: 10/30/2017To connect to your corporate or school network, you may
need to join a domain. When you add your computer to the domain,
you can sign in to your Windows 10 computer and your network
with your credentials. Your computer receives all the security
and policy updates required by your IT administrator, ensuring
you have secure access to all the resources you need.
Productivity Guide

The journey to a new sales experience with Microsoft
Dynamics CRM OnlinePublished: 06/26/2015The processes and tools that the Microsoft sales organization
previously used had become overly complex and kept sellers from
focusing on their customers. Starting with the principle that Microsoft
should use the products that it sells to customers, Microsoft corporate
and field groups worked together to simplify sales processes and
deliver a new sales platform that has increased seller productivity
and satisfaction.
Business Case Study

Just Enough Administration: Windows PowerShell security controls help protect enterprise dataPublished: 05/17/2016
Microsoft IT deployed Just Enough Administration (JEA)—based on Windows PowerShell—to help protect critical information systems from threats caused by loss, compromise, and misuse of privileged administrator credentials. With JEA, we designate who can perform specific administrative tasks without full administrator rights, which reduces risk and increases data security. JEA also gives us actionable logging and reporting. Article

Keeping your files secure in the cloud with SharePoint OnlinePublished: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
How to restrict access to your site through permissions setting and applying Information Rights Management to files. These tips and tricks from Microsoft IT will help improve your digital productivity and create an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
Readiness Guide

Listening to customer feedback with Azure Machine LearningPublished: 05/23/2018In today’s world, listening to customers helps create better experiences. Microsoft employees who travel for business have the chance to leave feedback about corporate travel services. To help analyze the data, we implemented Azure Machine Learning to reveal insights about customer sentiment and their experiences. With text analysis, we can analyze customer comments and capture a broad range of feedback from travelers. We’re applying the feedback and business intelligence we gain to better meet the needs of our people.
Business Case Study

M - N

Making the Microsoft Lobby Experience more accessiblePublished: 05/02/2017When universal design principles challenged our thinking,
Microsoft IT took accessibility to a new level with the design
of our updated lobby experience. Not only did we incorporate
accessible features into the multitouch technologies throughout
our new lobbies, we leveraged personas to build inclusive
improvements into our designs from the start. The holistic
approach goes beyond typical accessibility scenarios—it provides
an improved experience across a broad audience by addressing
more subtle, situational impairments.Article

Managing and optimizing resources for cloud computing
at MicrosoftPublished: 03/24/2017Host Lyle Dodge chats with Pete Apple, Principal Service
Engineer, and Rick Ochs, Senior Service Engineer, to learn how
Microsoft IT understands our cloud investment and how we
implemented cloud resource management and cost optimization
strategies. Listen in as they discuss the tools and processes
that we built on our journey to an efficient cloud environment.
Webinar

Managing the data life cycle using Azure Data FactoryPublished: 06/22/2017Today, companies generate vast amounts of data—and it’s critical to have a strategy to handle it. To automate common data management tasks, Microsoft created a solution based on Azure Data Factory. The service, Data Lifecycle Management, makes frequently accessed data available and archives or purges other data according to retention policies. Teams across the company use the service to reduce storage costs, improve app performance, and comply with data retention policies.
Technical Case Study

Managing email in Outlook 2016Published: 09/12/2017Features in Microsoft Outlook 2016 help you keep your inbox
neat and tidy. Learn how to manage your email, create rules, and
clean up conversations to reduce clutter and stay organized. For
smart, effective communication with your colleagues, follow a
few email etiquette tips to help avoid productivity traps.
Productivity Guide

Managing the enterprise cloud with Operations
Management SuitePublished: 03/31/2017Microsoft is a cloud-first, mobile-first enterprise, and we’re committed to running as much of our business as possible in Azure. To monitor and manage our cloud infrastructure, Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) is using Operations Management Suite (OMS). It gives our enterprise a high-level view of all our cloud operations. With it, business groups have the freedom to manage and monitor their own apps and infrastructure, and to customize their OMS environment to meet their own requirements and standards.
Article

Managing a hybrid data platform with Operations
Management Suite Published: 07/06/2016When Microsoft IT wanted to manage and monitor DataMall, our
internal data repository comprising a range of data sources and
hosted in a hybrid environment, we chose Operations Management
Suite (OMS). With the monitoring and remediation capabilities in
OMS, we gained visibility into both the on-premises and Azure
components of DataMall.
Article

Managing modern mobile productivity with Enterprise
Mobility + SecurityPublished: 10/30/2017With more people using personal devices for work, the need
to protect corporate resources, documents, and data increases.
At Microsoft, we manage mobile productivity to give people a
consistent experience on both work and personal devices. We use
Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Azure Active Directory to manage
mobile devices and balance mobility with app security and
identity management.
Technical Case Study

Managing Public Key Infrastructure in the EnterprisePublished: 06/26/2014All organizations that
exchange information over the Internet are susceptible to attack
from malicious users. Electronic credentials that prove identity
are a critical part of security measures. Microsoft IT has developed
recommendations to help other enterprises design and protect an
infrastructure that supports these credentials.Article

Managing security risk in the cloudPublished: 03/28/2016 Updated: 04/13/2016Lacking criteria or an assessment framework for SaaS applications, the Microsoft Information Security Risk Management team created a workbook to provide needed guidance. See how the team uses this to ensure the consistent evaluation of SaaS deployments.
Article

Managing Skype Room Systems and Surface Hub devicesPublished: 10/04/2016
As part of our quest for more reliable, productive online meetings, Microsoft IT is working to improve our ability to manage meeting room devices. It’s an evolving, end-to-end service approach, from which our employees have already benefited, whether they are collaborating using Surface Hub or the new Skype Room Systems. We are also enhancing management tools such as Intune and Microsoft Operations Management Suite to monitor meeting room devices, automate processes, and detect and correct technical issues.Technical Case Study

Managing Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute in a global
enterprisePublished: 12/16/2016With migration to Azure, it’s important that Microsoft IT
ensure network connectivity between on-premises and virtual
resources across our environment. To do so, we’ve been using
Azure ExpressRoute circuits as part of our network topology. For
management of ExpressRoute, we’ve moved to a shared circuit
model—business groups access some networking components, but we
provision and manage ExpressRoute networking services in a
simplified and centralized way. As a result, we’ve reduced
overhead and optimized bandwidth.
Technical Case Study

Managing user identities and secure access at
MicrosoftPublished: June 28, 2017At Microsoft, our hybrid environment requires a combination
of tools and processes to manage identities and network access
for all employees, suppliers, and partners. Microsoft IT uses
features in the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security suite,
Microsoft Azure Active Directory, and on-premises access and
identity management solutions such as Windows Server Active
Directory. Our people can work securely from any location.
Technical Case Study

Managing your email and calendar on the go with Outlook 2016Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
Use Microsoft Outlook 2016 to keep your world in sync and stay more connected. Outlook helps you manage everything you do, no matter where you are. Get your email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and to-do lists all in one place. Because Outlook is built into Microsoft Office 365, you can sign in from any browser and use it on Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android devices.
Productivity Guide

Measuring the value of mobile apps Published: 06/23/2016
Do you have robust performance and user satisfaction data to evaluate your mobile app portfolio? Microsoft IT used telemetry and user feedback to create a continuous improvement and assessment system for our internal app portfolio. We created a mobile app performance baseline, a data-driven investment decision framework, and an engagement model for our internal users, who provide feedback to product development teams and help inform design decisions.Article

Meeting the challenges of agile development at
enterprise scalePublished: 03/23/2017At Microsoft IT, agile methodology has been successful for
small projects—we’ve shortened release cycles and respond
quickly to customer requirements. However, when we adopted the
agile model for enterprise-scale projects, our teams faced
bottlenecks that slowed progress and impacted quality. To
address the inefficiencies, we evaluated third-party models and
developed an approach that helps us reduce dependencies, balance
autonomy and alignment, and deliver incremental business value.
Business Case Study

Microsoft Azure Key Vault helps protect keys,
secrets, and certificatesPublished: 09/21/2016Microsoft IT uses Microsoft Azure Key Vault to store and
help protect our encryption keys, secrets (like authentication
keys and passwords), and certificates. Using the vault improves
the security of the infrastructure, apps, and services that we
build and operate. It simplifies the protection process for
developers, since they can easily locate and manage vault
contents across their apps. To promote vault usage, we gave our
Azure developers guidance on tasks related to managing Azure Key
Vault.
Article

Microsoft creates a new sales experience with Microsoft
Dynamics CRM at the corePublished: 06/12/2015Microsoft transformed and simplified its sales processes and
platforms into fast, modern, and role-based systems that are holistic,
intuitive, and focused on specific customer business needs. New
tools, built largely around out-of-the-box Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Online and Microsoft Dynamics CRM features and functionalities,
deliver streamlined sales processes, standardized and integrated
tools, and intuitive collaboration features.
Article

Microsoft Dynamics AX Enables Operational Efficiency
at MicrosoftPublished: 04/28/2015Review
examples of how Dynamics AX supports the Microsoft IT ERP strategy
to provide strategic insight and productivity for the business.
Microsoft IT discusses how solutions have been implemented using
the extensibility and interoperability of Dynamics AX across different
business workloads.
Technical Reference

Microsoft Dynamics Provides Retail Solutions for Microsoft
StorePublished: 08/29/2014Microsoft Dynamics
helps Microsoft Store thrive in the new retail reality by delivering
a consistent, compelling customer experience across multiple channels
that's designed to build lasting relationships, all while providing
agility for the business to easily scale to support growth.Article

Microsoft Excel: Basics and beyondPublished: 08/01/2017 Updated: 12/01/2017Take your Excel skills to the next level! We show you how to collaborate in Excel and increase your productivity in the cloud. Learn how to create an Excel workbook, save it to OneDrive, use formulas and functions, and visualize your data in charts and graphs. See how to insert PivotTables and learn how to access Excel from your Windows, iOS, or Android device.
Productivity Video

Microsoft Excel: Getting started with PivotTablesPublished: 01/23/2018
Learn to create PivotTables in Excel! A pivot table helps you
sort and categorize worksheet data so you can analyze details,
spot patterns, and make informed decisions. Pivot tables are
also a good way to summarize and present data for analysis and
review. We show you how to create a PivotTable from scratch in
Excel, format your table, build charts, filter your data, and
more.
Productivity Video

Microsoft Excel: Getting started with web data
queriesPublished: 01/19/2018Learn to run web queries from Excel! Sometimes, you need to
get data from an online source. We show you how to query a web
site, bring the data into Excel, and merge and append it with
data from other sources. Learn to use the Query Editor to modify
your query, change data formats, and edit imported data.
Productivity Video

Microsoft Excel: Tips and TricksPublished: 01/19/2018Collect a few tips for working efficiently with data in
Excel! We show you how to filter and sort data in your
spreadsheet, do quick calculations, and troubleshoot formula
errors. You’ll learn some useful shortcuts for navigating
between tabs and files, counting cells, and more.
Productivity Video

Microsoft Finance Leverages Power BI to Transform ReportingPublished: 10/22/2014The World Wide Enterprise
and Partner Group (EPG) Finance team used Power BI for Office 365
to accelerate the process of getting information to decision makers
and completely transform how Microsoft Finance does reporting for
EPG. Article

Microsoft focuses on strategic database administration by moving to AzurePublished: 7/27/2016At Microsoft, our Information Security and Risk Management team—which manages our most hyper-sensitive information, in our largest databases—moved its entire database environment to Azure. The migration required careful planning and testing, but the move itself was simple. With automated administration and performance monitoring, our database administrators have time to focus on strategic projects such as data modeling, architecture design, and code reviews.Article

Microsoft increases productivity and protects
assets with OneDrive for BusinessPublished: 12/22/2017OneDrive for Business is the standard at Microsoft
for simple and secure cloud storage and file synchronization.
We’ve deployed OneDrive for Business with a communication
strategy that encourages people to opt in to the service, and as
they do, we’re reducing our storage and infrastructure costs.
The OneDrive for Business sync client makes it easy for people
to sync files and access them from any device. New
authentication and data protection features help to further
protect our corporate assets.
Technical Case Study

Microsoft Intune makes it easy to bring your own device with confidencePublished: 05/31/2016
Microsoft Intune enables mobile device management for personal devices. We will demonstrate both sides of the Intune experience—watch an employee enroll her personal iOS device into Intune, gaining access to corporate resources and applications. Then see an administrator create a corporate policy from the management console to help ensure the security of corporate data.
Video

Microsoft IT automates a supply chain business process
with Microsoft AzurePublished: 07/07/2015 Updated:
07/30/2015The Microsoft online and brick-and-mortar retail
stores previously used a product returns process that required manual
data entry and multiple systems. A new solution uses Microsoft Azure
to enable customer self-service requests for return labels. The
new system has improved the customer experience while reducing support
time and minimizing errors.
Article

Microsoft IT builds a big data tax solution for
Finance with AzurePublished: 07/06/2016Faced with rapidly changing international tax laws and
exponential data growth, Microsoft IT transformed the Finance
department's traditional data warehouse infrastructure into a
centralized, cloud-based management system built on Azure Data
Factory and SQL Server. This scalable big data solution allowed
the finance team to cut its response time to international audit
requests, efficiently process and report on large volumes of
business information, and provide better support for growth
across the company.
Article

Microsoft IT cloud computing strategies continue to evolvePublished: 03/30/2016Microsoft is on a complex, multi-year journey to adopt cloud computing across the enterprise. Learn how we developed our cloud strategy, made cultural shifts, and changed processes at Microsoft to help make this journey a success.
Business
Case Study

Microsoft IT Deployed and Manages a Hybrid Model of Exchange
OnlinePublished: 06/21/2012A hybrid messaging
deployment offers the possibility to have some mailboxes located
on-premises while others reside in the cloud. Microsoft IT shares
its planning and deployment experiences of a hybrid Microsoft Office
365 hybrid messaging solution.Technical White Paper

Microsoft IT Deploys and Manages Office 365 ProPlusPublished: 07/05/2013This white paper discusses
the considerations and experiences of the Microsoft IT team when
deploying and managing the new Office in an enterprise environment.
Many of the techniques and best practices described in this paper
can be employed by other companies to help them determine how to
best approach their own managed Office deployments.
Technical White Paper

Microsoft IT Deploys Work Folders as an Enterprise Client Data Management SolutionPublished: 06/19/2014 Updated:
08/01/2014Learn how Microsoft IT is implementing
Work Folders to support People-Centric IT and to improve management
of sensitive data.Technical Case Study

Microsoft IT Designs a Task-based Library Website by
Using SharePoint Server 2010Published: 05/28/2014Learn how Microsoft IT used a task-based design approach and
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 to redesign a website for Microsoft
Library. The resulting site enhances the user experience through
improved search, navigation, and help, as well as new personalization
features.
Article

Microsoft IT enables information discovery with
enterprise search and DelvePublished: 08/31/2016Microsoft IT hosts more than 350 million Office 365
documents and other content, serving 200,000 users around the
globe. Helping employees find what they need to be effective in
their jobs required new approaches to deliver integrated search
experiences. Program managers David Johnson, Sam Crewdson, and
Rene Sanchez Almaguer share how we used Delve, SharePoint 2016
with hybrid services, and Office 365 Search to deliver
rationalized search and discovery experiences.
Webinar

Microsoft IT enhances security and reliability with Exchange
Online ProtectionPublished: 06/22/2015 Updated:
06/23/2015Microsoft IT uses Exchange Online Protection
as a service to block and filter spam and other malicious email.
In addition, they have developed tools and processes to help manage
the service and minimize such threats. This article describes how
Microsoft IT uses Exchange Online Protection and other measures
to reduce email security vulnerabilities.
Article

Microsoft IT helps users embrace Office 365 ProPlusPublished: 07/04/2013Microsoft IT uses new
and innovative channels to help Microsoft users prepare for and
embrace the new Office, resulting in a successful deployment with
increased user productivity and reduced support costs.
Article

Microsoft IT Improves Operational Efficiency and Reduces
Costs with Microsoft System CenterPublished: 02/10/2014Microsoft IT discusses its use of the System Center suite of
services and the business and operational benefits realized across
Application and Infrastructure automation.Business
Case Study

Microsoft IT Institute Best Practice Experience: Lync
at MicrosoftPublished: 08/27/2014This
session covers "How Microsoft Does IT"and provides insight into
how Microsoft deploys and manages Lync and conferencing solutions
to support Microsoft's 220,000+ internal users. Participants will
learn the best practices Microsoft has created and employed in designing,
developing, deploying, and operating Lync, and Enterprise Voice
for our global environment.
Course Description

Microsoft IT Institute Best Practice Experience: The
Cloud at MicrosoftPublished: 08/27/2014
This Best Practice Experience Course covers "How Microsoft Does
IT"and provides insight into how Microsoft is moving to the Cloud
to support Microsoft's 220,000 internal users. Participants will
learn the best practices Microsoft has created and employed in designing,
developing, deploying, and operating in the cloud for our global
environment.
Course Description

The Microsoft IT journey to transform BIPublished: 06/17/2015Microsoft IT is on a multi-year
journey to transform how the company works with BI. This is a major
undertaking for any enterprise, requiring changes for people, processes,
and technology. Learn about the roadmap we've built and the progress
we've made so far. We also share the lessons learned, best practices,
and reference architecture you can leverage to help your organization
effect its own transformation.
Technical Case Study

Microsoft IT moves a critical database environment to
AzurePublished: 07/06/2016Olav Opedal and Dong Yang discuss how Microsoft IT moved one
of its most critical database environments to the cloud and
describe the benefits the team experienced after migration. As a
database administrator, Yang describes why moving to the cloud
gave him more control over the entire database and reduced
overhead, allowing him to focus on data modeling and
architecture design.
Video

Microsoft IT Replaces Siebel with Dynamics CRMPublished: 05/24/2012By retiring Seibel and replacing
with the Global Sales Experience (GSX) solution powered by Dynamics
CRM, Microsoft IT has been able to introduce simplicity for IT,
agility and value for the business. This document provides an overview
of how Microsoft IT introduced new governance models to rationalize
down and upstream applications, access policy management to provide
the right data to the right people and increase the time to market
of new sales programs.Business
Case Study

Microsoft IT Service Management transitions from Exchange
On-Premises to Office 365Published: 06/22/2015
Updated: 06/23/2015Microsoft IT migrated hundreds of thousands
of mailboxes from Exchange On-Premises to Office 365 Exchange Online.
But for the service management team, the major change was not technology—but
changing their focus from servers to service. They are now accountable
for ensuring end-to-end service quality and user satisfaction for
the email service.Business Case Study

Microsoft IT shares insights about moving to the cloudPublished: 10/15/2015 Updated: 09/15/2016
Planning to move your business environment to the cloud is a bit like moving to a new house—you must plan and organize as well as consider the process, costs, and benefits. To advance the vision of our "mobile first, cloud first" initiative, Microsoft IT migrated its own data and applications first. We faced some unexpected challenges, developed several best practices, and learned some lessons we can share with other companies that want to move to cloud computing.Article

Microsoft IT Tests LOB Compatibility with Office 365
ProPlusPublished: 07/05/2013Microsoft
IT gains additional efficiencies during the new Office deployment
by incorporating changes into their mature application compatibility
testing process.
Article

Microsoft IT transforms teleworking culture in Japan Published: 04/01/2016 Updated: 05/25/2016
In Japan, a business culture that values face-to-face interaction has slowed the widespread adoption of teleworking. However, demographic changes and a mandate from the government are making worker mobility a top priority.
Microsoft IT in Japan is advancing the cultural and technological transformation to a mobile-first, cloud-first workplace by offering business solutions and demonstrating the benefits of teleworking to employers and workers alike.
Business Case Study

Microsoft IT transforms with the move to cloud computingPublished: 04/04/2016 Updated: 05/11/2016Network architect David Lef shares how the move to cloud computing has transformed his role and day-to-day responsibilities at Microsoft IT, providing opportunities to experiment with cloud technology and prepare for future technology innovations.
Video

Microsoft IT transitions core business applications to
Microsoft Azure PaaSPublished: 07/30/2015 Microsoft IT has transitioned many line-of-business applications
to Microsoft Azure platform as a service (PaaS). This article describes
why they moved four of these applications and how the transition
helped Microsoft IT, other Microsoft teams, and customers.
Technical Case Study

Microsoft uses predictive analytics to improve
sales processes and forecastingPublished: 09/01/2017
Mohit Sharma, Program Manager, talks about how Microsoft has implemented predictive analytics built on Azure Machine Learning for the sales team—making the jobs of sellers, sales managers, and sales executives at Microsoft a bit easier. He discusses how our consolidated tools have reduced manual sales processes and provide business insights through Power BI and Cortana Intelligence Suite, resulting in accelerated pipeline management and more accurate sales forecasting.
Webinar

Microsoft IT uses Power BI to solve digital marketing challengesPublished: 02/25/2016 Updated: 05/10/2016Marketing to 1 billion customers is a tough job.
Understanding how to effectively market to those customers is
even tougher. Learn how the marketing team partnered with IT and
used big data, Microsoft Azure, and Power BI to make smarter
business decisions about marketing to their customers.
Article

Microsoft IT Uses System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection
for Unified Security and ManagementPublished: 05/31/2012System Center 2012 Configuration Manager provides key management
capabilities around application delivery, desktop virtualization,
device management, and security that make it possible to enable
productivity amidst device proliferation while also reducing costs.
In the 2012 release, Configuration Manager takes a new "user-centric"
approach to application delivery. Users can establish policies and
relationship rules that allow Configuration Manager to evaluate
user identity, application dependencies, device type, and network
connection in order to deliver the optimum application experience
to users from whatever device or devices they happen to be using.
Technical Case Study

Microsoft migrates 150,000 mailboxes to Exchange OnlinePublished: 06/22/2015 Updated: 11/01/2017
Migrating Exchange email to the cloud in a complex global
environment posed many challenges for Microsoft. But we knew
that the transition from on-premises Exchange servers to Office
365 and Exchange Online would have many benefits, including
remote access to email services, ongoing feature updates, and
cost savings. Learn how we evaluated and planned the migration
in phases, communicated with teams and stakeholders, and
conducted the migration—collecting best practices to share along
the way.
Technical White Paper

Microsoft migrates its learning content and
certification portal to the cloudPublished: 12/22/2017Microsoft Learning and Readiness manages learning content
and the Microsoft certification platform that gives our
customers and employees product and technology training. To
increase scalability and performance and to reduce storage
costs, we moved this content to the cloud. To expedite the data
migration, we created a tool to move 1 PB of courses, labs,
exams, and videos to Azure Blob Storage faster. We also migrated
the databases, web apps, and services that make up the
certification platform to PaaS.
Technical Case Study

Microsoft moves IT infrastructure management to the cloud with AzurePublished: 04/20/2018As our IT infrastructure has evolved from traditional datacenters to hybrid cloud infrastructure, so have our tools for managing IT infrastructure. With Azure as the primary platform for infrastructure, we are adopting Azure management tools for monitoring, updating, backup, and security. We envision further decentralized IT and self-service IT management offerings for business groups that give them control over their own business environments and the ability to adapt IT services to suit their needs.
Technical Case Study

Microsoft OneDrive for Business: Basics and beyond
Published: 11/28/2017Move to the cloud with OneDrive for Business! We show
you how to get started with OneDrive for Business, including how
to store, share, and access documents securely. A cloud-based
document library, OneDrive for Business integrates with Office
so you can organize all your work in one place. Learn how to
sync your devices to your library and access your documents from
anywhere, on any device.
Productivity Video

Microsoft OneNote: Basics and beyondPublished: 01/08/2017 Updated 12/01/2017See Microsoft OneNote in action! We show you how to use OneNote for collaboration and offer best practices for increasing your productivity. Find out how to create a OneNote notebook, manage your task list, and share notes in meetings. See how OneNote integrates with other Office apps, and learn how to access OneNote from your Windows, iOS, or Android device.
Productivity Video

Microsoft Outlook: Basics and beyondPublished: 12/06/2017Make the most of Outlook! We show you best practices for
managing your email and calendar efficiently, including
switching views in calendar and email, scheduling meetings and
conference rooms, and categorizing your appointments with
colors. Learn how to assign permissions to a delegate and share
your calendar with others. Even Outlook veterans may learn a
thing or two in this deep-dive session.
Productivity Video

Microsoft Power BI and MyAnalytics drive
executive effectivenessPublished: 01/13/2017At Microsoft, we want to use data to influence every
decision. Our IT executives use business intelligence to help
inform decision making and effective communication. Executive
Insights dashboards—powered by Power BI—intuitively
visualize data, facilitate deeper analysis, and help us make
more informed decisions. MyAnalytics quickly analyzes—in
aggregate—consumption and actions taken on qualified IT
executive group email messages. And MyAnalytics data lets them
fine-tune their communication strategies.
Business Case Study

Microsoft Power BI: Basics and beyondPublished: 01/19/2018
Put your data to work with Power BI! A suite of business
analytics tools, Power BI helps you create and share actionable,
intuitive reports for business insights. We show you the basics
of Power BI, data visualization, and dashboards. Learn how to
create and modify data visualizations, join data from multiple
sources, and build a dashboard to share with colleagues.
Productivity Video

Microsoft PowerPoint: Beyond the basicsPublished: 05/09/2017 Updated 12/01/2017Bring your slideshow to life with PowerPoint! We show you how to use PowerPoint and share presentations in the cloud. Find out how to make a PowerPoint template, create presentations, design interactive content with Office Mix, and save it all to OneDrive. Learn how to access PowerPoint from your Windows, iOS, or Android device.
Productivity Video

Microsoft reinvents sales processing and financial
reporting with AzurePublished: 07/03/2017Moving the company’s revenue reporting platform to Microsoft Azure is giving Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) the opportunity to redesign the platform’s infrastructure and functionality. With the major components in Azure, we’ve already seen how Spark Streaming and Azure Data Factory have made dramatic improvements in the platform’s performance and scalability. As our journey to host this solution in Azure continues, we’re finding new ways to improve it with Azure capabilities.
Technical Case Study

Microsoft saves 20 percent on third-party software spending by using Power BIPublished: 05/24/2016
At Microsoft, we consistently look to cut costs and incorporate best-of-breed internally developed solutions. But we do license third-party software for some applications. Learn how Microsoft IT developed the infrastructure and processes necessary to effectively manage, control, and use third-party software licenses within our organization, throughout all stages of a software license lifecycle.
Video

Microsoft tames the ‘wild west’ of big data with modern data managementPublished: 04/20/2018Treating data as a strategic corporate asset at Microsoft means providing a modern data management framework so teams can derive rich analytical insights through AI and machine learning. Our Data Analytics Working Group is developing common standards across business units to help ensure data quality, improve discoverability, and reduce costs. For flexibility and security, we chose Azure Data Lake Store as our data storage platform.
Technical Case Study

Microsoft Teams: Basics and beyondPublished: 12/19/2017
Bring your coworkers together with Microsoft Teams! We’ll
show you how to connect with your team using channels to chat,
call, meet, and store shared files. A chat-based workspace in
Office 365, Teams is a hub for collaboration that gives you
secure access to all the information your team needs to work
together.
Productivity Video

Microsoft Teams increases collaboration in the modern
workplace at MicrosoftPublished: 03/15/2018
At Microsoft, many groups are adopting Microsoft Teams for
collaborative work. It serves as a hub for teamwork and brings
together apps, communication tools, and shared spaces that
groups are already using. Using Teams is an adjustment, though,
and requires a change in behavior and work style. To help people
adopt Teams, we’re using a communication strategy that sparks
interest and creates awareness, raising up champions who engage
others, and sharing resources for learning Teams.
Business Case Study

Microsoft uses analytics and data science to
enhance the user experiencePublished: 06/21/2017Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) is enhancing user experiences for Microsoft employees—such as finding information and communicating and collaborating with coworkers. Using Azure Data Factory and Azure Data lake, we built a platform to capture instrumentation—which includes data from products and services like Skype for Business and Office 365. We analyze this data, along with user feedback, using data science, machine learning, and algorithms—key phrase extraction, deep semantic similarity, and sentiment analysis—for insights to help people be productive.
Technical Case Study

Microsoft uses Windows Defender Antivirus to boost malware protectionPublished: 06/23/2016 Updated: 05/09/2018
Not having a robust antimalware strategy is like leaving the front door of your company open with valuable goods exposed. Windows Defender in Windows 10 helps meet your antimalware, antivirus, and similar security needs. With this built-in infrastructure, Microsoft IT saves time and money that we previously spent on antimalware implementation, hardware, and maintenance. Now we have more time and budget for other security priorities.Article

Microsoft weeds out fake marketing leads with Naïve Bayes and Machine Learning ServerPublished: 12/14/2017 Updated: 05/01/2018To connect with potential customers, our marketers and sellers at Microsoft depend on good-quality leads. But sometimes people fill out online forms with fake names, gibberish, or even profanity. We distinguish fake company names from legitimate names in our data using the programming language R, the Naive Bayes classifier algorithm, Microsoft Machine Learning Server, and a data quality service that we built. This solution helps us weed out fake names and prioritize good leads for our sales and marketing teams.
Article

Migrating business-critical Treasury apps to
Microsoft AzurePublished: 09/16/2016Microsoft IT is continually moving company technologies and
business processes to the cloud. Recently, we worked with
Microsoft Treasury to move its portfolio of finance apps to
Azure. Together, Microsoft IT, Microsoft Treasury, and Azure
Engineering used infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and
platform-as-a-service (PaaS) functionality in Azure to move
applications from on-premises datacenters to the cloud,
providing a unified, scalable, and resilient platform.
Article

Migrating a critical high-performance platform to
Azure with zero downtimePublished: 03/29/2017Microsoft IT manages a high-performance platform for
managing customer data—including privacy preferences for
services like Windows Live, Xbox, and Office. We knew it would
soon be time to retire the aging on-premises hardware
infrastructure and migrate the platform to a high-performance
environment in Azure. We evaluated the infrastructure and
devised a plan—and completed the migration to a scalable,
cost-effective cloud solution that exceeded our performance
requirements with zero downtime for our services.
Technical Case Study

Migrating on-premises SharePoint sites to the cloudPublished: 08/25/2016TechNet Radio host Yung Chou welcomes David Johnson, Senior
Program Manager, to discuss how Microsoft IT migrated more than
185,000 on-premises internal SharePoint sites and portals to the
cloud. Learn how Microsoft IT approached its move to the cloud
as David shares best practices, tips and tricks, and lessons
learned that you can take to your own IT environment.
TechNet Radio Session

Migrating an open source PaaS solution to AzurePublished: 06/26/2017Microsoft is a technology partner for Modern Muse, a
UK-based organization that inspires career development for
girls. Recently, Microsoft IT migrated the Modern Muse platform
from Amazon Web Services to Azure. We successfully moved the
open source codebase and components into a scalable and flexible
platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solution with minimal code changes.
Integrating Visual Studio Team Services helps manage Modern Muse
development with Agile methodology such as continuous
integration and continuous deployment.
Technical Case Study

Migrating to a Hybrid Server Environment with Microsoft
AzurePublished: 05/27/2014Microsoft IT
needed to migrate applications and server workloads from a large
number of servers located in traditional data centers. With infrastructure
replacement costs close to US$200 million, Microsoft IT wanted to
leverage the capabilities and benefits of Microsoft Azure to replace
the existing infrastructure. Microsoft IT assessed server workloads,
created migration plans, and transferred workloads from their existing
server infrastructure to Microsoft Azure virtual machines. The migration
process enabled Microsoft IT to capture vital lessons and best practices
to use in future migration projects, and the migration provided
cost and efficiency benefits for Microsoft IT and the business groups
it supports.Business
Case Study

Mobile device management at MicrosoftPublished: 07/02/2015 Updated: 03/18/2016
Bring your own device is no longer just a trend—it is arguably the dominant workplace culture. More employees are using personal devices for work, creating a unique set of challenges for IT teams that must balance user convenience and data security. Microsoft uses Enterprise Mobility Suite and other services to manage identity, devices, and applications. Now, simplified and integrated IT solutions enable employees to be productive on any device.
Technical Case Study

Modern deployment options in Windows 10Published: 05/25/2016
The deployment landscape is changing—and fast! In this webinar, learn how the deployment options for Windows 10 have introduced new, streamlined ways to roll out other applications at Microsoft. Microsoft IT Project Managers Amrinder Singh Chadha and Stephon Watson share their hands-on experience. Webinar

Modernizing HR at MicrosoftPublished:
06/29/2015To support major strategic and cultural shifts
at Microsoft, the HR Reimagined initiative helped the company deliver
a seamless, engaging HR experience for over 100,000 employees worldwide.
Microsoft Azure was an easy choice for the platform of such a global
effort, enabling HR to take advantage of their existing investments
in software, for an industry-best solution.Business
Case Study

Monitoring and protecting sensitive data in Office 365 Published:
04/20/2016
Microsoft IT created a solution to manage the risk of sharing sensitive data, while still promoting collaboration in Office 365. Power BI dashboards give insight into how Microsoft corporate users share information. This solution detects sensitive data sharing and helps Microsoft IT proactively manage and respond to information security risks. Technical Case Study

Moving to modern engineeringPublished: 04/05/2016 Updated: 04/11/2016
Microsoft IT is evolving the way it develops applications and services for its internal customers. Learn how agile methodology and modern engineering practices are helping the team deliver value to the business faster. Technical Case Study

Networking for a hybrid application environmentPublished: 08/24/2016David Lef identifies the considerations and challenges of
supporting a network environment as line of business
applications move from an on-premises environment to the cloud
using Azure.
Article

New Windows 10 features enhance security and productivity at MicrosoftPublished: 05/02/2016 Updated 07/20/2016
With the Windows 10 November update, Microsoft IT enabled several enterprise features for its global user base, including Windows Hello for Business, Credential Guard, and Enterprise State Roaming. In addition, implementing Azure Active Directory Join across the enterprise extended cloud capabilities to users with Windows 10 devices. With the update, users saw security enhancements and immediate improvements to productivity.Article

O - S

Office 365 meets evolving eDiscovery challenges in a
cloud-first worldPublished: 12/19/2016Microsoft Office 365 gives you eDiscovery in the cloud.
Quickly and easily find and retain content to satisfy legal and
regulatory requests and internal investigations. And there’s no
need to move content to an archive—it stays in place, immutable,
secure, and accessible to content owners. Use eDiscovery search
tools and Advanced eDiscovery analytics tools to filter content,
and to cut review time and costs. Using these tools, our legal
department at Microsoft saves about $4.5 million per year.
Technical White Paper

Office for AndroidPublished: 09/24/2015
If you own an Android device, you can now expand your
workspace to wherever you are by installing Microsoft Office on
your phone or tablet. Office for Android provides the same look
and feel as Office on your desktop. It also provides the same
ability to store and share data in the cloud through Microsoft
OneDrive for Business, allowing you to create, share, and edit
data quickly and easily, even when you are on the go. See how
you can be more productive with Office.
Productivity Guide

Office for iPhone and iPadPublished: 09/24/2015
Own an Apple iPad or iPhone? Be more productive wherever you are by installing Microsoft Office on your tablet or phone. Office for iOS provides the same look and feel as Office on your desktop. It also provides the same ability to store and share data in the cloud through Microsoft OneDrive for Business. With Office for iOS, you can create, share, and edit data quickly and easily, even when you are on the go.
Productivity Guide

Office SharePoint Workspace Get StartedPublished: 11/30/2010Microsoft SharePoint Workspace
2010 is a client application that offers a seamless experience when
you work online and offline with document libraries and lists on
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Foundation
2010. Additionally, it conducts real-time, automatic, transparent
synchronization of that content when you connect to the SharePoint
server.
Work Smart Guide

OneDrive for Business tips and tricks videoPublished: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
OneDrive for Business is more than just cloud storage. Use the Follow command for important docs, investigate the Shared with Me folder, learn the functionalities within Windows Explorer, and sync files to your Outlook. This readiness guide brings tips and tricks from Microsoft IT that improve digital productivity and help create an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
Readiness Guide

OneDrive sync client unifies client file storage and
synchronizationPublished: 07/06/2016Microsoft IT is implementing Microsoft OneDrive for Business
as a managed file synchronization and storage service on
Windows, iOS, and Android operating systems. In the process, we
are decommissioning costly on-premises solutions. The
cloud-based OneDrive sync client user experience is identical
for personal and business content, giving users access to their
data from a single interface. With storage in Azure, it provides
robust enterprise-grade security and compliance controls.
Article

OneNote for Pros: Smart note-taking tipsPublished: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
Learn how you can use keyboard shortcuts, insert and use Audio/Video, integrate Excel, and check changes to a doc through the history tab to be more productive in OneNote. Work Smart brings tips and tricks from Microsoft IT that improve digital productivity and help create an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
Readiness Guide

OneNote OverviewPublished: 03/30/2012
Updated: 05/15/2014You can use this guide to learn about
the features in the Microsoft OneNote 2010 note-taking program,
and how to use them.
Work Smart Guide

Optimizing network performance for Microsoft Office 365Published: 08/28/2015 Updated: 09/19/2016As the earliest adopter of Microsoft products, Microsoft IT began deploying Microsoft Office 365 across the company in 2011. To optimize network capacity and performance, we took time to create and implement strategic plans for network-related technologies. We used industry-leading performance and migration approaches and adopted cloud infrastructure services to successfully move our complex global environment to Office 365.
Technical Case Study

Optimizing predictive analytics using Cortana Intelligence Suite on AzurePublished: 07/25/2016With an immense amount of data to manage across business groups, Microsoft IT continually works to develop logical methods to store and retrieve business intelligence data. We developed a solution with Cortana Intelligence Suite on Azure that optimizes predictive analytics for our marketing teams. The tools are customizable and scalable, and they allow us to look at big data with accurate predictive models in an automated workflow, for quicker and deeper insights into our business.Technical Case Study

Optimizing resource efficiency in Microsoft AzurePublished: 01/20/2017 Updated: 05/04/2017Many businesses have questions about how to optimize Microsoft Azure. Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) is moving the bulk of our computing resources to Azure, and the environment requires constant evaluation and optimization. We’ve set standards to manage resources, identify underutilized and noncompliant workloads, and to retire those that are unused. We employ a few tools—some analytic, and some automated—to implement changes to our environment that help us reduce our costs and our utilization footprint.
Business Case Study

Optimizing SAP for AzurePublished: 03/23/2017 Updated: 04/12/2018Microsoft uses SAP enterprise resource management software to run mission-critical business functions like finance and human resources. In an on-premises model, physical computing resources are costly and may go unused. But by moving our SAP systems to Microsoft Azure, Microsoft avoids maintaining unused resources—we scale our systems up and down for current and short-term needs. We’ve fine-tuned our capacity management processes for lower costs, and more agility, scalability, and flexibility.
Technical Case Study

Overview of Skype Meeting Broadcast and how to schedule a Skype Meeting BroadcastPublished: 11/27/2015
Skype Meeting Broadcast is a high quality video streaming solution from Skype for Business. Supporting up to 10,000 viewers at any one time, it's completely device agnostic. Participants can join from anywhere on any device, all they need is an internet connection. Viewers can interact via built-in collaborative tools, and have the ability to rewind, pause and restart the broadcast at will.

This video provides a brief overview of Skype Meeting Broadcast, key features and benefits. It's also the first in a series of four 'How to' videos providing step-by-step guidance on scheduling a broadcast.Video

Overview: Microsoft OneNote 2010Published:
03/30/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014You can use this guide to
learn about the features in the Microsoft OneNote 2010 note-taking
program, and how to use them.
Work Smart Guide

Personas drive usage and accessibility in the
Microsoft Lobby ExperiencePublished: 02/27/2017When universal design principles challenged our thinking,
Microsoft IT took accessibility to a new level with the design
of our updated lobby experience. Not only did we incorporate
accessible features into the multitouch technologies throughout
our new lobbies, we leveraged personas to build inclusive
improvements into our designs from the start. The holistic
approach goes beyond typical accessibility scenarios—it provides
an improved experience across a broad audience by addressing
more subtle, situational impairments.
Article

Planning and supporting meetings in a complex global enterprisePublished: 10/04/2016
Meetings at Microsoft can be complex—crossing time zones, regions, and business groups. Microsoft IT ensures that participants stay productive and focused on the business at hand, without technical difficulties or disruption. A framework that supports Office 365 apps, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business, and Yammer helps to facilitate collaboration for attendees. Proactive preparation and a range of technologies—such as Microsoft Azure for data storage and Microsoft Identity Manager for security—keep meetings on track.
Article

Power BI delivers custom data visualization to business teamsPublished: 05/24/2016 Updated: 06/01/2016
The Power BI product development group, the Power BI user community, and Microsoft IT partnered to bring the impact of data visualization to business users at Microsoft. Our self-service business intelligence tools include Power BI custom visuals. Power BI developers create and submit visuals to a public gallery built on common standards and open-source libraries. Users can choose from these visuals to present and discover new data insights, or use them as templates to create their own visuals.
Article

Power BI mobile apps—enabling data analytics on the goPublished: 04/04/2016
To keep up with the modern pace of business and a workforce that is always on the go, the BI team at Microsoft created mobile apps for Android, iOS, and Windows devices that provide responsive dashboards and reports optimized for smaller screens.Article

Predictive analytics improves the accuracy of
forecasted sales revenuePublished: 07/07/2016Microsoft IT is improving the accuracy of forecasted sales
revenue for our sellers, sales managers, and sales executives.
We’re consolidating sales tools to provide an easier, more
holistic user experience throughout the sales cycle. We’re also
using predictive analytics—built on Azure Machine Learning and
open-source technologies—to help the sales team gain better
insights for pipeline management, forecasting, quota attainment,
consumption, and annuity.
Article

Predictive analytics in Azure Machine Learning
optimizes credit collectionsPublished: 04/10/2017
When the treasury team at Microsoft wanted to streamline the collection process for revenue transactions, Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) created a solution built on Microsoft Azure Machine Learning to predict late payments. Using a third-party algorithm, XGBoost, we spotted trends in five years of historical payment data. Aligned with our mission of digital transformation, these insights join data, technology, processes, and people in new ways—helping the collections team to optimize operations by focusing on customers who are likely to pay late.
Article

Preparing your organization for a seamless Windows 10
deploymentPublished: 07/18/2016Microsoft has learned many lessons from years of deploying
major operating system updates to a globally diverse and highly
mobile workforce. Among the most important is this: A
technically sound base of code isn't enough. Successfully
transitioning to a new technology also requires that
organizations plan ahead with thoughtful and proactive
communications, deploy the upgrade with expertise and speed, and
support employees with post-deployment training and materials.
The good news is we're here to help.

Microsoft IT used the materials in this program to support the
Windows 10 deployment to all employee devices within the
Microsoft global enterprise. Now, you can use them to facilitate
employee adoption, promote best practices, and ensure a direct
path to productivity with the best Windows ever.
Article

Propelling digital transformation in manufacturing operations with Power BIPublished: 12/22/2016To avoid costly problems in the supply chain and production line, manufacturers must monitor and optimize their operations. For Microsoft, hardware manufacturing for Microsoft Surface, HoloLens, and Xbox is a multibillion-dollar business. But curating production data took time away from proactive decision-making. Microsoft IT and the Microsoft supply chain used Microsoft Power BI and data analytics to transform operations in one factory, which led to higher productivity and faster anomaly detection. Technical Case Study

Protecting and managing Microsoft data with SharePoint governancePublished: 06/22/2016Microsoft IT manages a complex SharePoint environment that includes hundreds of internal portals, various search experiences, corporate taxonomy, and internal applications—as well as support for sharing and collaboration. Building on Office 365 and SharePoint Online controls, we have created IT governance policies and processes for managing our complex environment and helping to keep our data secure in the cloud. Business Case Study

Protecting assets and increasing productivity with OneDrive for Business at MicrosoftPublished: 05/16/2018Looking for a simple cloud storage and synchronization app that just works? Listen in to learn how we use OneDrive for Business and Windows 10 information protection at Microsoft to share and help safeguard data. People can easily access content from any location, sync data, and collaborate in real time while still keeping corporate assets safe. We share our strategies for migration and show how increased adoption has helped us to reduce our storage and infrastructure costs.Webinar

Protecting Azure resources with Recovery Services
vaultPublished: 03/23/2017 Updated 05/16/2018Microsoft Core Services Engineering manages the backup and recovery of nearly 9 PB of on-premises data. Having migrated most of our IT infrastructure to Azure, we knew we needed to adapt our backup and recovery processes for our growing Azure virtual machine infrastructure. With Azure Recovery Services vault, we provide data protection for Azure resources. It’s a flexible, adaptable solution for our employees to access—and it gives them control over their own backup and disaster recovery needs.
Technical Case Study

Quantifying personal productivity inspires change
across MicrosoftPublished: 04/18/2017“Work smarter, not harder” sometimes falls flat when it
comes to productivity at work. Like others, Microsoft is
challenged by measuring and managing personal productivity.
We’re using a new tool—MyAnalytics—that brings powerful new
insights through objective, specific, and quantitative
productivity data. Personalized dashboards bring focus and
empower employees to improve communication, collaboration, and
engagement, which in turn drives greater productivity across the
organization and accelerates our digital transformation.
Technical Case Study

A quick video tour of the OneNote appPublished: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
Microsoft's Jason Draime takes you on a quick tour of the OneNote modern app where you can use the radial wheel to create lists and format on the fly, use a stylus to transcribe your handwriting, and take a quick picture to upload to your Notebook. This readiness guide brought to you by Microsoft IT aims to help you be more productive and inspire an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
Readiness Guide

Reading and Reviewing using OneNote on Your Surface with
Windows RTPublished: 02/08/2013The portability
and long battery life of your Windows RT device make it easy to
carry with you. Use Microsoft OneNote throughout the day on your
work PC to organize your reading, then sync your OneNote with your
Windows RT-compatible device and take your reading with you on the
airplane, at the doctor's office, or wherever you find yourself
with a little free time.
Work Smart Guide

Rearchitecting the Microsoft licensing platform for
AzurePublished: 01/19/2016The Microsoft Enterprise Commerce team is rearchitecting
Microsoft volume licensing to support a "cloud first, mobile
first"business model. Microsoft chose Microsoft Azure as the
new platform for volume licensing because it provides the
scalability and agility that Microsoft needs now and in the
future. From the new system, Microsoft expects to gain increased
agility, developer efficiency, user enhancements, worldwide
scale, support for further growth, and reduced application
maintenance costs.
Article

Redesigning business applications at Microsoft using
PowerAppsPublished: 07/24/2017For a consistent look and feel across web and mobile apps
on the company dashboard, Microsoft IT uses PowerApps. With
PowerApps, our engineers and our business analysts can
contribute to app development and they can easily configure and
manage apps from a single point. This gives apps on the company
dashboard a unified and consistent user interface, making it
easy for employees to do common tasks quickly on any iOS,
Windows, or Android device.
Technical Case Study

Redesign for the cloud: Building a cloud-first
network at MicrosoftPublished: 09/12/2017Transitioning to the cloud? Adopting cloud technology
requires that you support legacy applications as well as new
application models for cloud computing—like platform as a
service (PaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and software
as a service (SaaS). Listen in as our experts talk about how we
evaluated our network and redesigned our infrastructure to
support the cloud-first, mobile-first culture at Microsoft.
Webinar

Redesigning network topology for modern app
architecturePublished: 02/27/2017For Microsoft IT, the transition to the cloud requires
fundamental changes to legacy network design. Modern,
cloud-based apps and services need reliable Internet
connectivity to provide top-notch user experiences and high
levels of productivity. We evaluated our network’s needs and set
about to re-architect the infrastructure to support the
cloud-first, mobile-first culture at Microsoft—creating a
proactive network model that takes advantage of consistent
taxonomy, standard configuration, and automation.
Technical Case Study

Reducing downtime with Windows Server 2016 rolling
cluster upgradesPublished: 09/23/2016Hyper-V cluster nodes running Windows Server make up a
significant part of the private cloud at Microsoft, hosting
thousands of apps and services. Upgrading these cluster nodes
was a tedious process for Microsoft IT, and meant taking entire
clusters offline. But now, with Windows Server 2016, we can do
rolling cluster OS upgrades without stopping the services or
going offline. The process is simpler and more efficient, and no
one loses productivity due to down time.
Article

Reducing IT costs with Azure and Windows 10Published: 11/14/2016Common computer issues can directly impact employee productivity. Over time, they can also significantly degrade the user experience and negatively impact an organization's bottom line. To address these issues, Microsoft IT created a solution to automate troubleshooting and technical repair issues. Based on Microsoft Azure, the Windows 10 app has been extended to iOS and Android devices—helping to reduce the cost of Helpdesk and other IT resources.
Technical Case Study

Reinforcing agile development practices with
structured app portfolio reviewsPublished: 01/24/2017Microsoft IT uses a structured review process to monitor
the Sales and Marketing organization’s app portfolio. Using
modern, agile methodologies, our process facilitates efficient
collaboration among key stakeholders, incorporates data
analytics to resolve service incidents, and focuses on improving
the end-to-end service offering. Along with efficiency in
tracking and resolving service issues and effective
conversations among stakeholders, we’ve seen our organization
gain accountability and engineering efficiencies.
Article

Reinventing the modern business ecosystemPublished: 02/29/2016 Updated: 03/02/2016
At Microsoft IT, we understand that innovation is rarely the product of solitary thinkers. Our integrated platforms and services create a global modern business ecosystem that allows our employees to collaborate and innovate in a secure, agile way.
Article

Responsive Web Design for EnterprisesPublished: 12/29/2014Creating a modern approach to
web design aimed at crafting websites that provide an optimal user
experience for all, regardless of their browser or device. Offering
some quick tips to help your enterprise embrace RWD.Article

Restructuring the global Inside Sales platform for MicrosoftPublished: 08/21/2015Microsoft is transforming
and simplifying its global Inside Sales business using a central,
standardized solution to increase efficiency, improve customer engagement,
and maximize performance. The new solution uses out-of-the-box Microsoft
Dynamics CRM features and functions. It includes a new application
called Unified Service Desk that integrates Microsoft Dynamics CRM
and Skype for Business, the corporate telephony solution used in
Microsoft contact centers.
Business Case Study

Reusable enterprise app code library powers digital
transformationPublished: 06/22/2017Sometimes, IT and business leaders must decide whether to build a new app or modify an existing one. Valuable development time can be wasted if a solution is already available. To make it easy to find useful apps, Microsoft created AppSource, which contains more than 500 apps, content packs, add-ins, and extensions that enhance and extend proven Microsoft solutions. AppSource apps work with Dynamics 365, Power BI, Office 365, and Azure. It’s a cost-effective, turnkey solution that’s helping us—and our customers—accelerate digital transformation.
Article

Rolling out Microsoft Office in one of the most
demanding environments—Microsoft (SME Roundtable July 2016)Published: 08/31/2016Gain insight into best practices Microsoft IT has used to
plan, deploy, and manage Office 365 ProPlus 2016, as well as how
System Center Configuration Manager streamlined the upgrade
process.
SME Roundtable

Rotating DevOps role improves engineering service
qualityPublished: 03/06/2017To enhance our adoption of agile methodologies, Microsoft
IT added the role of Directly Responsible Individual (DRI) to
our teams. With a focus on incident management, service
availability, and service health, the rotating role helps our
agile teams proactively discover and fix issues before they
affect the customer. With fewer support tickets to resolve, team
members have more time to deliver business value. As a result,
we’re delivering better services with greater speed and
efficiency.
Article

Run Effective Meetings with OneNotePublished:
12/26/2014Another meeting! If you are overbooked, and want
your meetings to be more productive and effective, consider inviting
Microsoft OneNote. Let Work Smart show how you can plan and run
efficient, effective meetings, ensure that attendees can access
meeting information, and keep everyone on the same page. This guide
is part of a series, which introduces the many benefits that OneNote
offers with respect to successful collaboration.Quick
Reference Guide

Run Successful Events with OneNotePublished:
12/26/2014You are planning an event, dreading having to
print reams of information that you will then have to stuff into
event packets. Let Work Smart show how you can plan and manage event
minutia digitally, and ensure that your attendees can access all
event information from their mobile devices. This guide is part
of a series, which introduces the many benefits that OneNote offers
with respect to successful collaboration.Quick
Reference Guide

Save and share files in the Cloud with OneDrive for Business
in Windows 10Published: 08/27/2015Microsoft
OneDrive for Business is your professional document library—the
business version of the OneDrive consumer service. OneDrive for
Business uses Microsoft Office 365 hosted productivity software
(Microsoft SharePoint Online) to store and organize your work files
in the cloud.
Work Smart Guide

Save time with Excel 2016 keyboard shortcutsPublished: 06/27/2017Keyboard shortcuts in Excel 2016 help you to quickly
perform common tasks in spreadsheets, including formatting and
navigation.
Productivity Guide

Save time with OneNote 2016 keyboard shortcutsPublished: 01/20/2017Keyboard shortcuts in OneNote 2016 help you to quickly
perform common formatting and authoring tasks.
Productivity QRG

Securing Active Directory: An Overview of Best PracticesPublished: 05/01/2013 Updated: 04/01/2016The threat of compromise
to IT infrastructures from external attack is rapidly growing and
evolving. The Active Directory environment is often the target for
these attacks. This article details steps that your organization
can take to protect its Active Directory environment.
Article

Securing the modern enterprise with Windows Defender
and Windows Defender ATPPublished: 04/21/2017Learn how Microsoft IT helps protect and secure our
enterprise network against malware and advanced attacks. Brian
Hooper, Senior Security Engineer in Microsoft IT, and Daryl
Pecelj, Senior Security Architect in Microsoft IT, discuss
Windows Defender and how we use Windows Defender Advanced Threat
Protection (ATP) to monitor the network for anomalous behavior
that may indicate possible malicious attacks or breaches. They
answer questions from participants about best practices.
Webinar

Securing the supply chain with risk-based assessmentsPublished: 12/14/2017At Microsoft, supply chain security means holding our
suppliers to the same security standards we apply to ourselves.
We created a supply chain assurance program that helps us assess
security in third-party software, goods, and services during
procurement. Our framework consists of a supplier risk profile
and assessments that produce risk indicators and recommend
actions. Assessing our suppliers helps us reduce risk in our
supply chain and make risk-based decisions.
Business Case Study

Securing Your Windows Phone Get StartedPublished: 03/30/2012Windows Phones are powerful tools
that enable you to work remotely by synchronizing to your corporate
email and the corporate network. More and more employees work remotely
and use Windows Phones and other mobile devices. However, protecting
them is a challenge, because they are small and easily lost or stolen.
This guide provides information on securing your Windows Phone.
Work Smart Guide

Security Patch Management Evolution for Data-Center Servers
at MicrosoftPublished: 08/30/2013 Assessing
and maintaining the integrity of software in a networked environment
through a well-defined patch management program is a key first step
toward successful information security. By focusing on policies,
technologies, and processes, Microsoft Information Technology (MSIT)
was able to reduce risk, improve performance, and improve availability
of software resources at Microsoft.Technical Case Study

Self-service BitLocker recovery key tools enhance security and reduce costs Published: 10/11/2016
To get a BitLocker recovery key, Microsoft employees were spending up to an hour with Helpdesk. Microsoft IT created a self-service portal that reduced Helpdesk calls—but remote staff couldn’t access it without a corporate network connection. To help our remote employees, we created a companion web app using Azure Active Directory Application Proxy. It extends the portal to any Internet-enabled phone or device. Now all employees can retrieve a single-use BitLocker recovery key in just a few minutes.Article

Separating business and personal settings with Enterprise State Roaming Published: 06/08/2016
Microsoft IT quickly and cost effectively piloted Enterprise State Roaming before its public release, with minimal user disruption. Enterprise State Roaming makes it easy to set up and configure new corporate or personal Windows 10 devices; settings are automatically applied. It helps protect privacy with separate business and personal settings for bring-your-own-device scenarios, and reduces our administrative overhead. Plus, via the Azure portal, we can easily monitor sync status of devices.Article

SharePoint at MicrosoftPublished: 04/05/2016 Updated: 05/03/2016
Go behind the scenes at Microsoft and explore its best practices for planning, designing, deploying, and operating SharePoint as a strategic collaboration platform. In this in-depth course, Microsoft IT subject matter experts (SMEs) share case studies, presentations, and demonstrations of the SharePoint implementation at Microsoft, both on premises and in the cloud. This course helps prepare you to implement and maintain a SharePoint installation as part of your organization's environment. Article

SharePoint at Microsoft (SME roundtable December
2016)Published: 01/23/2017IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from
our SharePoint at Microsoft course to answer questions about how
Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, governs, upgrades,
and supports SharePoint at Microsoft. In this session, they
discuss modern team sites, governance, compliance, user adoption
and training, Microsoft PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and much
more.
SME Roundtable

SharePoint at Microsoft (SME Roundtable May 2016)Published: 06/28/2016Do you have robust performance and user satisfaction data to evaluate your mobile app portfolio? Microsoft IT used telemetry and user feedback to create a continuous improvement and assessment system for our internal app portfolio. We created a mobile app performance baseline, a data-driven investment decision framework, and an engagement model for our internal users, who provide feedback to product development teams and help inform design decisions.SME Roundtable

SharePoint at Microsoft (SME Roundtable September 2016)Published: 11/07/2016IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our SharePoint at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, governs, upgrades, and supports SharePoint at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Microsoft Azure, SharePoint governance, permissions, site archival and auditing, and much more.SME Roundtable

SharePoint Online 101Published: 06/24/2013
Updated 05/16/2014This guide describes how to create and
customize a team site by using Microsoft SharePoint Online. You
can also use the content in this guide to customize other types
of sites that you create by using SharePoint Online.
Work Smart Guide

SharePoint to the cloud: Learn how Microsoft ran its
own migrationPublished: 03/15/2016 Updated: 03/23/2016Microsoft employees use SharePoint every day, so the
company had to be careful when it came time to move its own
185,000 sites and portals to the cloud. See what Microsoft IT
learned when it migrated the company to SharePoint Online on
Office 365.
Technical Case Study

Sharing content securely: managing and governing
SharePoint and Office 365 at MicrosoftPublished: 07/17/2017In business, employee collaboration with colleagues inside
and outside of the company is the name of the game. Finding a
balance between readily sharing files and protecting corporate
assets is crucial. At Microsoft IT, we get it. With over 400,000
SharePoint team sites, intranet portals, and OneDrive for
Business sites, we have a lot to manage. Learn how we use custom
solutions, organizational policy, Office 365, and Azure Active
Directory to help manage, govern, and protect our data in a
highly collaborative environment.
Webinar

Shifting responsibilities in Exchange service management after migrating to Exchange Online
Published: 11/08/2016
With the transition to Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft IT migrated mailboxes from on-premises Exchange servers to Exchange Online. This shift changed responsibilities for the Exchange service management team, releasing the team from server maintenance tasks such as applying patches or defining server policies. Andrew Kim, IT Service Manager for the Exchange email and calendaring service, shares how the team refocused roles to improve the end-to-end service experience across client devices and applications.
Webinar

Shortcut keys for Windows 10Published:
08/24/2015 Updated: 09/22/2015This guide lists shortcut
keys that you can use from the desktop in Windows 10.
Productivity Guide

Showcasing interactive technology with the Microsoft Lobby ExperiencePublished: 03/20/2017 Updated 05/16/2017In partnership with the Real Estate and Facilities group,
Microsoft IT turned a lackluster waiting room into an inspiring,
engaging experience for our guests at Microsoft. Our guests
arrive, stay, and depart from our lobbies—and experience the
latest Windows and multitouch technologies in the process. Using
agile development methods, we focused on incorporating
accessibility, scalability, and resilience into designs that can
be used anywhere in the world.
Technical Case Study

Six Sigma in the datacenter drives a zero-defects
culturePublished: 02/17/2016Microsoft constantly strives to improve reliability and
availability in its worldwide datacenter network. Microsoft IT
developed an innovative defect reduction program that applies
ITIL Problem Management and Six Sigma methodologies to
datacenter operations and assets for the first time. Internal
hosting consumers now use a greatly standardized and simplified
environment. Supported by a robust data-driven framework,
Microsoft IT professionals strive to eradicate defects in the
datacenter and systematically reduce IT infrastructure failures.
Technical Case Study

Skype for Business accelerates modern collaboration
at MicrosoftPublished: 01/05/2017At Microsoft, Skype for Business is revolutionizing the way
we do business. Employees connect anywhere, anytime, on any
device. No longer tethered to desktops, we use Skype for
Business as a unified communications solution that supports
Bring Your Own Device, mobile, and remote scenarios—with
increased productivity. Skype Cloud PBX, PSTN calling, and PSTN
conferencing create a complete enterprise telephony experience.
As a cloud-based call management system, it frees us from costly
outsourced PBX, telephony, and conferencing systems.
Business Case Study

Skype for Business at Microsoft (SME roundtable April 2016)Published: 05/19/2016 Updated: 06/17/2016
IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT implements, monitors, maintains, and supports Skype for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Lync Room System, hybrid servers, wireless infrastructure, redundancy, normalization rules, call flow monitoring, quality analysis, and much more.SME roundtable

Skype for Business at Microsoft (SME roundtable
December 2016)Published: 01/23/2017IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from
our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions
about how Microsoft IT implements, maintains, and supports Skype
for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss
transition and migration strategies, integration with Microsoft
Teams, SIP carriers, security, user training, and more.
SME Roundtable

Skype for Business at Microsoft (SME roundtable February 2016)Published: 03/10/2016 Updated 06/17/2016IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT implements, monitors, maintains, and supports Skype for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss video conferencing, peer-to-peer communications, service improvements, SIP trunks, and much more.
SME Roundtable

Skype for Business at Microsoft (SME roundtable
March 2017)Published: 05/10/2017IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from
our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions
about how Microsoft IT implements, maintains, and supports Skype
for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Skype
Meeting Broadcast, Skype fax service, new features, hardware
requirements, security considerations, and much more.
SME Roundtable

Skype for Business at Microsoft (IT Expert Roundtable
May 2017)Published: 07/27/2017IT Showcase brought together IT experts from our Skype for
Business at Microsoft course to answer questions about how
Microsoft IT implements, maintains, and supports Skype for
Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss new
features of Skype for Business, factors that affect call quality
and reliability, client version control, tenant dial plans,
normalization rules, and much more.
SME Roundtable

Skype for Business at Microsoft (SME roundtable September 2016)Published: 10/25/2016IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT implements, maintains, and supports Skype for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss hybrid deployment, user sentiment, video features, connection issues, user provisioning, and much more.
SME Roundtable

Skype for Business: Building a Modern Contact Center
and User Entry PortalPublished: 05/05/0215Learn how Microsoft uses the Skype for Business platform for
Enterprise support. See how they integrated a User Entry Portal
and Enterprise Contact Center platform into a single solution and
how Microsoft IT views the future of support in a world of Universal
Communications. Skype for Business gives time back to employees
and customers!
Video

Skype for Business for Android Published: 11/18/2015Skype for Business for Android is a productivity app that
brings Skype Meetings, instant messaging, voice, and video
capabilities to your Android mobile device. It has a new look
and feel, at-a-glance view of your upcoming meetings and
conversation history, simplified call controls, and many other
improvements.
Productivity Guide

Skype for Business for iOSPublished: 09/18/2015Skype for Business for iOS is a productivity app that
brings Skype Meetings, presence, instant messaging (IM), voice,
and video capabilities to your iOS mobile device. It has a new
look and feel, at-a-glance view of your upcoming meetings and
conversation history, simplified call controls, and other
improvements.
Productivity Guide

Skype for Business for Windows PhonePublished: 04/13/2016 Updated: 04/14/2016
Skype for Business for Windows Phone is an app that brings Skype for Business meetings, presence, instant messaging (IM), voice, and video capabilities to your mobile device. This guide provides detailed instructions on how to get started using Skype for Business for Windows Phone.Productivity Guide

Skype Meeting Broadcast: Reach thousands globally with just one clickPublished: 11/24/2015 Updated: 12/07/2015
Have you ever planned or presented large online meetings at your organization? If so, you've probably experienced these challenges: expensive media delivery equipment, multicast infrastructure that does not provide the flexibility you need for mobile devices, unreliable video streaming, or simply too many viewers for your old broadcasting solution to handle. Microsoft is meeting these challenges by migrating to Skype Meeting Broadcast technology specifically designed for large online meetings and events.Article

Solution Developers Discuss How Microsoft IT Delivered
a Global Expense Solution Using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012Published: 06/11/2012Microsoft needed to replace its
diverse expense-reporting systems with a single, centrally managed
solution that was easier to use and yielded more consistent, detailed
information. Using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and integrating with
the SAP system, Microsoft IT was able to create a two-tier ERP "innovation
layer".Technical
Case Study

Standardized certification for internal apps improves
security, privacy, and productivityPublished: 06/24/2015New trends, including "bring your own device"and the demand
for small, task-focused apps, have made it harder for companies
to apply security, privacy, branding, and distribution standards
to internal apps. To meet these needs, Microsoft IT developed an
internal app certification process that all developers must follow.
By providing tools to help developers and enforcing standards through
certification, IT can manage its growing app portfolio. The solution
also enables developers to be more agile and creative in the apps
they create in response to ever-changing business needs.
Technical Case Study

Standardizing performance with Storage QoS in Windows
Server 2016Published: 09/23/2016Microsoft IT maintains a private cloud that includes
dedicated storage and thousands of virtual machines. With
Windows Server 2016, we use Storage Quality of Service (QoS) to
manage storage usage and monitor performance. Policies in
Storage QoS prevent one virtual machine from dominating storage
I/O within a cluster, standardize storage I/O, and give us
insight into storage I/O across the environment.
Article

Stop by and see us at Build 2018 Published: 05/01/2018IT Showcase will be at Build 2018 in Seattle from May 7-9 sharing how we build and innovate on Azure within Microsoft. Stop by our sessions to hear from our experts who will provide technical deep dives on such topics as Azure serverless, cloud security, and cloud operations at scale. You’ll have access to the very experts who work on these solutions every day and who can share an inside view of Microsoft.
Article

Strategies for migrating SAP systems to Microsoft
AzurePublished: 03/23/2017 Updated: 04/12/2018With the right approach, you can migrate mission-critical SAP systems to Azure for maximum cost savings, and gain agility and uptime. Microsoft—partnering with the Azure Customer Advisory Team—evaluated our SAP systems with two strategies. First, we started by moving environments with the least user and business impact—like our sandbox. This experience helped us define best practices on Azure for our second strategy, to move entire system stacks (from sandbox to production), starting with lowest-risk systems.
Technical Case Study

Streamline Onboarding with OneNotePublished:
12/26/2014You have a new project, new employee, new process,
and you need to provide vast amounts of paper, files, and other
data as part of onboarding. Let Work Smart show how you can streamline
the ramp-up period for people, making it more efficient and effective
for them, and much less time-consuming for you. This guide is part
of a series, brought to you by Work Smart, which introduces the
many benefits that OneNote offers with respect to successful collaboration.Quick
Reference Guide

Streamlining business processes with SAP connectors and Azure servicesPublished: 05/23/2018
Moving to the cloud is a foundation for digital transformation—especially when taking advantage of the cloud’s PaaS and SaaS capabilities. At Microsoft, we had already migrated our SAP infrastructure to Azure; our next challenge was to promote native connectivity between SAP and Azure. To do so, we designed the SAP Web Services Platform and the SAP ABAP SDK for Azure to provide an unprecedented level of functionality and insight into our business processes. Technical Case Study

Streamlining the development process with feature flighting
and Azure cloud servicesPublished: 06/18/2015 Updated
06/19/2015Cross-discipline teams at Microsoft
IT engaged in a joint effort to overcome many challenges of traditional
software development models. A large organization within Microsoft
IT successfully streamlined its development processes, reduced overall
risk, and improved the customer experience by using feature flighting
and Microsoft Azure Cloud Services to deliver smaller changes more
frequently.
Technical Case Study

Streamlining mobile app publishing using Azure Logic
AppsPublished: 06/12/2017To transform the process of certifying mobile apps and
publishing them to the Company Portal, Microsoft IT built
Enterprise Mobile App Publishing (EMAP). EMAP uses automated
workflows created in Azure Logic Apps and gives us the ability
to submit apps to publishing through HockeyApp. This streamlined
and automated publishing process better supports Agile
development at Microsoft.
Technical Case Study

Successful Meetings with Lync 2013Published:
01/03/2013 Updated: 08/06/2014Traditional meetings can
be a challenge when people are dispersed across worldwide locations.
Communications technology can overcome this physical boundary by
allowing people to attend meetings from any location by using Internet
or phone access. In addition, by understanding the best practices
for conducting meetings and productively using Microsoft Lync 2013
communications software, you can make your meetings more efficient
and effective.
Work Smart Guide

Successful Meetings with Lync 2010Published:
03/30/2012 Updated 05/14/2014Traditional meetings, large
and small, can be a challenge when people are spread out over long
distances and include internal and external participants. Communication
technology can overcome physical boundaries by allowing people to
attend from any location by using Internet or phone access. By understanding
best practices and using Microsoft Lync 2010 communications software,
you're on your way to conducting or participating in successful
meetings.
Work Smart Guide

Successful meetings with Skype for BusinessPublished: 05/18/2015 Updated: 05/13/2016
Traditional meetings can be a
challenge when people are spread out over long distances. Communication
technology can overcome this physical boundary by allowing people
to attend from any location with Internet or phone access. In addition,
by understanding the best practices for conducting meetings and
productively using Skype for Business, you can make your meetings
more efficient and effective.
Readiness Guide

Supporting network architecture that enables modern
work stylesPublished: 08/02/2016David Lef explains the key factors and strategies involved
with implementing and supporting a network infrastructure that
enables modern work styles such as constant connectivity and
mobile productivity.
Article

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Get StartedPublished: 04/13/2012 System Center 2012 Configuration
Manager puts the management of your computer in your hands. You
can use Configuration Manager to quickly and easily identify and
install applications that are relevant to you based on your role,
language, and location. You can also use Configuration Manager to
manage the timing of installations and upgrades to avoid disruptions
to your work.
Work Smart Guide

T - Z

Take Quick Notes with a Stylus and Your Surface with
Windows RTPublished: 02/08/2013The portability
and long battery life of your Microsoft Surface with Windows RT
device make it easy to carry with you. Add a capacitive stylus,
the Microsoft OneNote Windows Store app, and the excellent support
for handwriting recognition included and you'll have a quick, natural
way to take notes on the go.
Work Smart Guide

Top five things to avoid when deploying BI at MicrosoftPublished: 08/21/2015Microsoft IT has the enormous
job of rolling out business intelligence (BI) solutions to more
than 200,000 people within the company. Learn the top five things
not to do when rolling out BI within a large organization, and potentially
save time, money—and embarrassment.
Article

Transforming business applications using the Windows
10 Universal app platformPublished: 01/21/2016 Updated: 01/23/2016As the "First and Best" customer of Microsoft enterprise
products, Microsoft IT partnered with the Windows development
team to transform core line of business applications into
Windows 10 universal hosted web applications. They used the
Universal Windows Platform, which frees developers from
platform-specific work, to rearchitect MSApprovals, a critical
line of business application responsible for approving 100,000
Microsoft internal transactions per month. Three codebases are
now a single codebase, and maintenance has been reduced by 40
percent. The result is the Windows 10 Universal App, MSApprovals,
which runs on any device and gives users a seamless experience
on their desktop, tablet, or phone.
Technical Case Study

Transforming IT for modern engineeringPublished: 11/23/2016Prabhu Jayaraman, Principal Software Engineering Lead, talks
about how modern engineering, agile methods, and cloud computing
have contributed to digital transformation in IT roles—enabling
teams to release product updates quickly and intensify their
focus on meeting customer needs. He shares how his team made a
cultural shift from working in traditional six-month waterfall
development cycles to short sprints with fast release
cycles—helping the team realize value more quickly and
increasing customer satisfaction.
Video

Transforming IT into an Innovation EnginePublished: 09/25/2014Learn how building an
incubation center in your IT organization can help transform it
into an innovation engine. Find out how you can establish the same
for your organization as Microsoft IT reveals its innovation blueprint.
Article

Transforming a Legacy LOB Application into a Microsoft
IT Modern AppPublished: 04/18/2014Learn
what it takes to develop a modern app and the fundamental changes
required in project management methodologies, design and engineering
approaches, and deployment strategies. By embracing a user-centric
IT strategy, Microsoft IT was able to redesign and transform its
leading global Learning and Readiness Application, Role Guide, into
a sleek modern app built on the Windows 8 ecosystem. Technical Case Study

Transforming the Microsoft boardroom with Windows 10
and Office 365Published: 03/28/2017Microsoft products make board meetings at Microsoft
successful. Between Outlook scheduling, OneNote collaboration
tools, and secure storage for agenda content in SharePoint
Online, the Office of the Corporate Secretary efficiently
organizes meetings. Quality and feature updates in Windows 10
make it easy for Executive Support Services to keep executives’
devices up to date. Surface Hub with Windows 10, apps like
Whiteboard and Skype for Business, and integrated AV
technologies make a flexible, easy-to-manage collaboration
workspace.
Technical Case Study

Transforming sales: Microsoft removes obstacles
and gives back time with Dynamics 365Published: 06/27/2017At Microsoft, digital transformation touches all parts of our business, including sales. We designed our sales solution as an evolving and streamlined toolset for customer relationship management and business intelligence. Built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure Cloud Services, it has significantly simplified our processes. What was a regimented and inconsistent system has become an individualized experience that puts customers first, and prioritizes selling time, simplicity, and coaching.
Technical Case Study

Transforming our digital workplace with Office 365
Enterprise E5Published: 01/17/2017
At Microsoft, we’re redefining how and where we work, and how we
stay secure. We manage staggering amounts of data and embrace
self-service tools. We’re more mobile and productive than ever.
Our global Finance team is at the forefront, driving insights
with Power BI analytics, adopting Skype for Business unified
communications, using Office 365 Enterprise E5 advanced security
and threat protections, and managing data discovery and
compliance—for an intelligent, collaborative, and more secure
work experience.
Business Case Study

Understanding file sharing and collaboration options Published: 10/03/2016Microsoft IT has deployed team collaboration tools to suit the varied needs of employees, while enabling us to manage data, enforce business policies, and manage document lifecycle. We challenge employees to change old habits and try to help them understand the cloud solutions available to them, including Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint Online for saving and sharing files, and Outlook 2016 and Yammer for communicating. Our goal is to help people choose the best tool for their collaboration needs.
Article

Understanding our business with app telemetryPublished: 09/20/2016Microsoft IT supports a variety of apps for Global Sales,
Marketing, and Operations (GSMO). To make the organization’s app
portfolio more efficient, we worked with GSMO to create a
telemetry-based solution in Microsoft Azure that helps them
understand the end-to-end sales process. The solution uses
Application Insights, Azure Data Factory, and Azure Data Lake to
collect data across the app portfolio, centralize and analyze
it, and give new insights into the sales business.
Technical Case Study

Updates in Windows 10 improve security and provide
better data protectionPublished: 07/11/2017Microsoft is taking advantage of updated security features in Windows 10 to help protect employees and company data. Additional layers of protection in Windows 10 help us do a better job of protecting data and detecting risky behaviors and sophisticated attacks. With each release of Windows 10, new features and tools help us quickly detect malware and respond to threats or cyberattacks—continually enhancing data security in our environment.
Article

Use Reset to restore your Windows 10 PCPublished: 11/20/2015In Windows 10, you can use Reset to restore the operating
system on your PC by reinstalling Windows. This lets you restore
Windows without using a separate recovery image (usually on a
DVD or USB thumb drive) that contains a backup copy of all
system files. Reset restores the PC by reinstalling the original
system configuration and then applying Windows updates to get it
to the last major update state. Use the Keep my files option to
preserve user accounts, data, pre-installed Windows apps and
applications, and customized settings. The Remove everything
option restores the PC in the same manner, but without
preserving any user accounts, data, or customized settings.
Productivity Guide

Using agile development to improve BI at MicrosoftPublished: 08/21/2015Microsoft IT uses business intelligence
(BI) tools that are simple enough for business analysts to use,
self-service style, rather than relying on developers with advanced
database skills. Moreover, Microsoft IT is combining this new self-service
BI approach with highly iterative and results-driven agile development
processes adapted from other sectors of the software industry. The
result is BI delivered to analysts and decision makers in time to
act on it.
Article

Using AutoVPN to connect remotelyPublished: 11/07/2016
AutoVPN, a new feature in Windows 10 Anniversary Update, allows you to connect simply and securely to work resources when you are away from the office. Managed devices automatically have a VPN profile that contains information about your corporate authentication method and server. Learn how to use AutoVPN for corporate access when working remotely.
Productivity Guide

Using Azure and Visual Studio Team Services for open
source developmentPublished: 06/27/2017In partnering with Modern Muse, a platform for women in
business, Microsoft IT migrated the Modern Muse app from Amazon
Web Services to Azure. We’re using Azure App Service with Visual
Studio Team Services (VSTS) to provide modern engineering
practices such as user stories, continuous integration,
continuous deployment, and gated check-ins with the open source
Modern Muse code. VSTS allows us to simplify and standardize the
Modern Muse development process while retaining the open source
codebase and development tools.
Technical Case Study

Using Azure Information Protection to classify and label corporate dataPublished: 04/04/2018A mobile workforce means that company information is no longer secured within a corporate network or on corporate devices. At Microsoft, we’re using Azure Information Protection to classify and label data—part of our strategy to protect information in our modern workplace. We’re teaching people to correctly label data with an intuitive classification framework, so persistent protection travels with it, wherever it is stored, sent, or shared.
Business Case Study

Using Azure Machine Learning and Power BI to turn customer feedback into actionPublished: 05/24/2016
Anusha Munjuluri explains why Microsoft IT needed to consolidate and analyze customer feedback about internal business applications. The User Experience Services team created a solution built on Power BI to capture real-time feedback along with data from User Voice, Yammer, and IoT devices. Access to internal business intelligence enabled Microsoft IT to efficiently update internal applications in response to feedback, improving customer satisfaction.
Video

Using Azure Multi-Factor Authentication at Microsoft to enhance security Published: 06/15/2016
To improve security and better support the productivity of our mobile workforce, Microsoft IT enabled Azure Multi-Factor Authentication as an additional verification method for secure sign-in. Now, users can sign in from any device with a single user identity that is verified with a phone call or mobile app notification. We integrated enhanced security into our existing infrastructure, focusing on the user experience, reducing helpdesk calls, and improving the performance of the service.
Article

Using cloud technologies to improve disaster recoveryPublished: 05/24/2016
Microsoft IT helps ensure that business applications are always available and safeguards data in case of disaster. To take advantage of new cloud technologies, we used a business-oriented strategy to identify critical business processes to evolve the existing business continuity and disaster recovery plan. We also took advantage of new Azure technologies such as System Center Data Protection Manager and SQL Data Sync to improve application resilience and performance in the cloud.
Technical Case Study

Using the Cortana Intelligence Suite for sales and
marketing predictive analyticsPublished: 07/08/2016As the business value of data science grows at Microsoft, so
does the need for a central platform to manage data assets, data
models, and analytics publishing. To avoid redundant and
disconnected efforts in data analysis, Microsoft IT used Azure
and the Cortana Intelligence Suite to create a scalable,
cloud-based platform that generates and manages predictive
models for the sales and marketing organization.
Article

Using equations in Office 2016Published: 05/10/2017In Office 2016, you can add built-in or custom equations to
Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote documents. Use ink-to-math
to write equations with a stylus, your finger, or a mouse, and
then reformat or correct your equations with ease.
Productivity QRG

Using IoT devices and data analytics to create a safe
workplace at MicrosoftPublished: 12/19/2016For workplace safety in more than 800 buildings and 190
countries/regions, Microsoft Global Security and Microsoft IT
take advantage of the Internet of Things and monitor the health
of 25,000 smart devices—like security cameras, panic buttons,
alarms, access control systems, and sensors. If any device
fails, physical security, productivity, and company assets are
at risk. With data analytics on performance and likelihood of
failure, we proactively manage risk, do predictive maintenance,
and boost device uptime.
Technical Case Study

Using Lync-Skype ConnectivityPublished:
05/16/2014Microsoft Lync Server 2013 supports connectivity
with Microsoft Skype software. From the living room to boardroom,
Lync-Skype connectivity helps improve communication and productivity.
With Lync-Skype connectivity, Skype users and Lync users can add
each other as contacts, exchange instant messages (IMs), and make
audio calls.
Work Smart Guide

Using Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to Actively Manage
Consumerization of IT DevicesPublished: 07/27/2012Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 has functionality that enables
users to access their corporate email, calendar, global address
list, and tasks with their personal portable devices. Using Microsoft
Exchange ActiveSync within Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft IT (MSIT)
delivers significant improvements in employee productivity and satisfaction
by enabling employee access to this business-critical information
in more than 170,000 user mailboxes.
Technical Case Study

Using Microsoft Intune to enable security compliance policies for mobile devices Published: 05/31/2016
Microsoft Intune simplifies BYOD and mobile device management! Intune manages personal devices in a corporate environment, giving employees access to corporate resources on their own mobile devices, all while helping ensure corporate data security. We show how an IT administrator can create a corporate security compliance policy from the management console and apply it to enrolled devices.
Video

Using Microsoft SharePoint 2013 as an advanced content
management systemPublished: 06/12/2015
Microsoft IT retired an outdated content management system (CMS)
and used Microsoft SharePoint 2013 to create a consolidated support
and training portal for Microsoft Dynamics. The new portal helps
customers and partners easily find product support information,
license products, and get product updates. The portal also makes
it easy for content creators to author, tag, publish, and localize
content quickly without mastering complex web publishing technologies.
Article

Using Microsoft SharePoint 2013 to build a robust support
and training portalPublished: 06/12/2015 The Microsoft IT team that is responsible for hosting customer
and partner content for Microsoft Dynamics needed to replace an
outdated and cumbersome content management system (CMS) with a solution
that would better support a complex range of content and customer
needs. Using Microsoft SharePoint 2013 as a new CMS, the team created
a support and training portal that helps customers and partners
easily find product support information, license products, and get
product updates. The portal also makes it easy for content creators
to author, tag, publish, and localize content quickly without mastering
complex web publishing technologies.
Technical Case Study

Using Modern Apps to Streamline and Standardize Business
ProcessesPublished: 06/19/2014Read about
MSApprovals, a new cloud hosted service and modern app that Microsoft
IT developed to standardize and streamline the approval process
for a number of business processes.Business Case
Study

Using Power BI to visualize data insights from Microsoft Dynamics CRM OnlinePublished: 10/20/2016
When it comes to data analysis and decision making, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online has been an invaluable business intelligence tool for the Microsoft Operations Global Business Process Outsourcing team. However, not all stakeholders have access to CRM Online, so Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) helped connect Power BI to the team’s data in CRM Online. Now it’s easy to share data views in a Power BI dashboard, export CRM Online data to Power BI for analysis, and view CRM Online data through the Power BI app.Article

Using predictive analytics to improve financial
forecastingPublished: 07/08/2016Azure Machine Learning and Cortana Intelligence Suite enable
analysts at Microsoft to make financial forecasts faster. New
predictive analytics tools allow us to analyze larger data sets
and do more sophisticated calculations, which frees financial
analysts to do more interesting, profitable, and creative work.
Article

Using predictive analytics to improve sales processes
and forecastingPublished: 12/20/2016Meeting company sales targets and accurately forecasting sales revenue are critical to the success of Microsoft and our customers. To help sales teams make informed decisions and accelerate opportunities, Microsoft uses predictive analytics models, Azure Machine Learning, and algorithms like latent semantic analysis and regression analysis. These models don’t replace human judgment—they augment it with seller feedback and ongoing model retraining, which result in analytics-based insights.
Technical Case Study

Using Windows 10 Client Hyper-VPublished: 07/21/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
Client Hyper-V is the virtualization technology built into Windows 10 and Windows 8.x. It is the same virtualization technology previously available only in Windows Server. Client Hyper-V enables you to run more than one 32-bit or 64-bit x86 operating system at the same time on the same host computer. But instead of working directly with the computer's hardware, the operating systems run inside a virtual machine (VM). Hyper-V enables developers and IT professionals to easily maintain multiple test environments. It also provides a simple mechanism to quickly switch between these environments quickly.
Readiness Guide

Using Windows 8 Client Hyper-VUpdated:
03/19/2013Client Hyper-V is the virtualization technology
built into Windows 8. Client Hyper-V is the same virtualization
technology previously available only in Windows Server. A similar
functionality in Windows 7 is called Windows XP Mode. Client Hyper-V
enables you to run more than one 32-bit or 64-bit x86 operating
system at the same time on the same host computer. But instead of
working directly with the computer's hardware, the operating systems
run inside a virtual machine (VM). Hyper-V enables developers and
IT professionals to easily maintain multiple test environments and
provides a simple mechanism to quickly switch between these environments.
Work Smart Guide

Using Windows Defender telemetry to help mitigate
malware attacksPublished: 08/08/2016Proactively understanding security vulnerabilities and
mitigating malware attacks is critical to providing a trusted
computing environment. Microsoft IT uses telemetry collected
from Windows Defender and System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection
to help us respond to attacks with a data-driven, prioritized
approach. Telemetry helps us spot trends in malware behavior and
identify the top types of malware and triggers so that we can
respond to infections, invest in appropriate protection, and
monitor patterns.
Article

Using Windows Hello to access work resourcesPublished: 12/22/2015 Updated 08/16/2016The Windows Hello feature for Windows 10 will help you to securely log on to your device and enjoy simplified sign on to on-premises and cloud resources without using a password. Using Windows Hello, you can sign in to your Windows 10 devices using a secure PIN. Or, if your device is equipped with compatible hardware, sign in with just a look or a touch.
Productivity Guide

Visual Studio Team Services: DevOps and agile methods
in practicePublished: 12/12/2016Using modern engineering practices, Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) responds quickly and efficiently to meet the business needs of our customers and partners. Our development platform, Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), offers built-in tools that support engineering fundamentals and application lifecycle management, providing our teams the opportunity to embrace agile methodology. By using VSTS, we work toward continuous integration and continuous delivery of incremental updates, and maintain a customer-focused development process.
Technical Case Study

Watch one seller’s take on transforming sales at
Microsoft with Dynamics 365Published: 06/26/2017Mark Schaefer, director of technical sales in the Microsoft
Pacific Northwest Region, talks about how his team has
experienced digital transformation—how an integrated toolset
built on Dynamics 365 and Azure Cloud Services replaced multiple
tools, complex processes, and time-consuming administration.
This new set of tools boosted team morale and dramatically
increased productivity—transforming the team into efficient,
motivated sellers who think about strategy, long-term vision,
and customer satisfaction.
Video

What's New in Access 2013Published:
01/03/2013 Updated: 05/15/2014With Microsoft Access 2013
database software, you don't have to be a developer to quickly create
custom browser-based apps. Access apps reliably solve business or
departmental needs like contact management, customer billing, and
order tracking. Access makes sure that end users can find features
and commands, so you can focus on simple changes to fit your business
needs.You can control your Access apps by using a Microsoft
SharePoint site in a browser, through Microsoft Office 365 hosted
productivity software. Data is stored in Windows Azure SQL Database
or Microsoft SQL Server software to help keep your data secure and
scalable.
Work Smart Guide

What's New in Excel 2013Published:
12/28/2012 Updated 05/15/2014The first thing that you see
when you open Microsoft Excel 2013 spreadsheet software is a new
look. It's cleaner, but it's also designed to help you get professional-looking
results quickly. You'll find many new features that help you draw
more persuasive pictures of your data, guiding you to better, more
informed decisions.
Work Smart Guide

What's New in Lync 2013Published: 12/27/2012
Updated 05/15/2014Microsoft Lync 2013 communications software
offers a clean look to help you communicate quickly and easily.
In Lync 2013, it's easier than ever to start an instant message
(IM) or a call. You can start a video call by using just one click
and even see a preview of your own video in the invitation. You
can also quickly upgrade from one type of call to another. Lync
2013 adapts to your own personal workflow, whether you're in the
office, at home, or on the go. Lync 2013 also provides new and useful
ways to organize your contacts so that you can quickly find the
right people to help you accomplish your work.
Work Smart Guide

What's new in Microsoft Office 2016Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
Office 2016 helps you do your best work—anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Modern versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access are built for maximum productivity. Create professional documents with rich authoring features and use intuitive tools to make the most of your data. Store documents in the cloud, and then share, present, and work as a team with built-in collaboration tools across the suite. And don’t forget: Office 2016 is available whether you use Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android devices.Productivity Guide

What's New in Office Professional Plus 2013Published: 01/02/2013 Updated: 05/15/2014Microsoft
Office Professional Plus 2013 transforms how you work. Each application
offers a start experience that gets you going quickly. You can open
an existing document in a flash or use a template to jump-start
the creation of a new file. It's also much easier to share and collaborate.
You can use new features like Microsoft OneDrive for Business to
save and share your files right from your Office applications.
The Office 2013 applications are also more closely aligned with
each other, so you have a consistent experience from one application
to another.
Work Smart Guide

What's New in OneNote 2013Published:
01/03/2013 Updated: 05/15/2014The Microsoft OneNote 2013
note-taking program is a digital notebook for capturing, storing,
and sharing all kinds of information—notes, pictures, webpages,
and media. You can access your OneNote information wherever you
go, on your favorite devices. Create notes, sketch a diagram, record
a lecture, and connect them to related presentation files, photos,
videos, web links, charts, and more, right in your notes.The
first thing you'll see when you open OneNote 2013 is a fresh, clean
look that helps you focus on your thoughts and ideas instead of
the interface. Full integration with the cloud through Microsoft
OneDrive for Business means that you can free your files from your
computer's hard drive. Access your notes on OneDrive for Business
from your tablet or Windows Phone, or from virtually any browser.
Work Smart Guide

What's New in Outlook 2013Published:
12/28/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014The first thing that you
see when you open the Microsoft Outlook 2013 messaging and collaboration
client is a new look. It's cleaner, but it's also designed to help
you focus on what's important by providing a clear view of email,
calendars, and contacts.
Work Smart Guide

What's New in PowerPoint 2013Published:
12/28/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014The Microsoft PowerPoint
2013 presentation graphics program has a new look. It's cleaner
and primed for use on tablets, so you can swipe and tap your way
through presentations. Presenter View automatically adjusts your
projection setup, and you can even use it on a single monitor. Themes
come with variations, which makes it easy to find the look that
you want. And when you're working with other people, you can reply
to comments and have meaningful conversations where they matter
most.
Work Smart Guide

What's New in Word 2013Published:
12/28/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014In Microsoft Word 2013, you
can do more with your docs: add an online video, open a PDF file
in Word and reuse the content, and align pictures and diagrams with
minimal fuss. The Reading View is clean and distraction-free—and
it works great on tablets. Teaming up is better too, with connections
to Microsoft OneDrive for Business and streamlined review features
like Simple Markup view and reply comments.
Work Smart Guide

Windows Defender ATP helps detect sophisticated
threatsPublished: 12/29/2016To respond to the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, Microsoft implemented a new cloud-based service, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Focusing on the small number of attacks that originate from advanced adversaries, Windows Defender ATP draws on machine learning, big data, and security analytics to help us detect, investigate, and respond to advanced, targeted attacks on our network, without building costly, on-premises solutions.
Technical Case Study

Windows Information Protection helps enforce data
policy at MicrosoftPublished: 05/09/2017Microsoft manages a highly mobile workforce and sets policies for a wide variety of both personal and company devices. Although we champion mobility, it’s also important that we protect our company data. Windows Information Protection, introduced in Windows 10, differentiates between personal and business information—encrypting company data and helping to prevent inadvertent data sharing. We can protect our data and allow our employees to store work or personal information on any device.
Business Case Study

Work Smart: Using Windows Internet Explorer 10Published: 08/21/2012Internet Explorer 10, included
in Windows 8, offers two browser experiences, a touch-optimized,
modern-style experience and a classic desktop, web-browsing experience.
This guide provides detailed instructions for using the Internet
Explorer 10 modern experience, provides useful tips for working
across both experiences, and discusses security and privacy.
Work Smart Guide

Working like a network with YammerPublished: 10/02/2015
Yammer is a file sharing, knowledge exchange, and team
efficiency tool that is designed specifically for company
collaboration, with transparency and inclusiveness in mind. It
lets you and your organization's employees harness the business
power of social networking through an easy-to-use product with a
familiar interface. Use this productivity guide to get started
with Yammer today.
Productivity Guide